


Baby Daddy

by jacktbfh



Series: Baby Daddy [1]
Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Baby Daddy AU, Clueless Boys, College, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, I have no idea what to tag, Kid Fic, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, best friend!jun, clueless!wonwoo, dad!wonwoo, minor jihan - Freeform, minor junhao - Freeform, minor verkwan - Freeform, pure fluff, seventeen with a baby, teacher!mingyu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-04 17:30:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 73,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10995597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacktbfh/pseuds/jacktbfh
Summary: Wonwoo wakes up at 3:46 one morning, $3000 richer and with a more exciting life ahead of him. The only downside? He has a kid, a baby girl he didn't even know existed, and has no idea how to care for her. Cue Mingyu and his surprisingly good taking-care-of-children skills.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be SoonHoon. It is not. But I still enjoyed writing it anyways; I hope you do too ctfu. 
> 
> (Was (loosely) inspired by the television show 'Baby Daddy'. Like literally I watched only the first episode and was like "that'd be a cool fic" and tada.)

_ “Wonwoo!” _

Wonwoo feels something hit the side of his head. It might be a pair of socks, or a dish towel, all he knows is that he’s now  _ pissed _ because he had been in a deep sleep, dreaming about being on a nice vacation and  _ not _ taking college courses. Now that that’s been interrupted, he’s out for blood. 

"Someone is breaking in!”  

Wonwoo’s eyes fly open. He finds his best friend, Jun, staring down at him from where he’s standing right next to the bed. He has their ‘safety bat’ clutched in his hands, holding it up in a defensive manner. Wonwoo sits up and rubs at his eyes. 

 “What?” 

“Someone knocked on the door and I think they slid something under it.” Jun explains. Wonwoo yawns and stands up from his bed, stretching his arms above his head as he wakes himself up. He glances at the clock on his bedside table and finds that it’s 3:46 in the morning. 

_ Someone apparently has a death wish, _ he thinks. 

“And they’re breaking in?” 

“I mean, I don’t know, but it’s almost 4 am. What else would they be doing?” 

Wonwoo groans and finds his discarded sweatshirt from the night before on the floor. He pulls it over his head and then starts heading towards the hallway so that he can check the situation out. For as tough as Jun makes himself out to be, he’s a whimp when it comes to stuff like this, so Wonwoo always has to deal with it. Like that one time there was a stray dog roaming around their front door and Wonwoo had to go get him, while Jun stood on the couch and whined about the possibility of the tiny thing having rabies. He didn’t, and they found the owner 30 minutes later. 

“Where’s Minghao?” Wonwoo asks as he makes his way to the front door, referring to Jun’s boyfriend of two years. They had started dating when they were sophomores in college, with Minghao being a freshman, and the relationship has always been weird but it works. Wonwoo never questions them. 

“Still asleep.” Jun looks back towards his bedroom. “I’m the only one that heard it.” 

“Maybe you’re just going crazy.” Wonwoo jokes. He steps into the living room from the hallway and then maneuvers around the couch, heading towards the front door. Sure enough, there  _ are _ papers in front of it, so maybe the older boy isn’t as crazy as Wonwoo had thought. That, or he’s hallucinating himself. 

“See!” Jun points to the papers on the ground. “I told you.” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo mutters. He bends down and picks them up, finding that there’s a folder underneath them as well. He hands them off to Jun and then walks up to the door, peering out the peephole. He finds no one, just an empty hallway. 

“There’s no one there.” 

“Are you sure?” Jun asks. Wonwoo rolls his eyes, but nods. 

“Yes. Can I go back to bed now?” Honestly, he just wants to sleep for the rest of his life. He can’t do that though, because he has a 9 am class, so the more time he can spend sleeping now, the better. He’s already going to be grumpy when he wakes up for the day, no need to make it worse. 

“Open the door just in case.” Jun instructs. He crowds himself up against Wonwoo’s back and holds the bat up again, looking ready to fight whoever is on the other. Wonwoo is fairly positive there’s no one there,  _ literally _ the hallway had been completely empty, but he grabs the doorknob anyways. He twists it and pulls the door open, bracing himself slightly because it  _ is _ early in the morning and anything could happen. 

Nothing does though. He opens the door and like he had thought, there’s no one there. Just an empty, quiet hallway, with a flickering light bulb at the end and their neighbors door decked out with a welcome mat across from them. 

“Told you.” Wonwoo grumbles. He’s about to shut the door again and trudge back to his room to continue sleeping for the short amount of time he has left, but Jun stops him, holding his hand out to stop the door from closing and then whirling Wonwoo back around with the other. 

“There’s a baby.” 

“There’s a what?” Wonwoo looks left, and then right, and there’s no fucking baby. Jun is going crazy, it’s decided. 

“Look down.” 

Wonwoo sighs and does as told, and  _ shit damn, _ there  _ is _ a baby. He (or she, he’s not sure) is sitting in a carrier that’s placed on the ground right in front of their door. There’s a blanket draped across them, with a diaper bag next to the car seat, as well as an envelope stacked on top. 

Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do. He’s heard horror stories about serial killers and rapists luring women out of their apartments using crying baby sounds as a deterrent. However, the baby isn’t crying, and it  _ looks _ real, and he and Jun aren’t women, so he doesn’t know what’s going on. 

“Should I touch it?” Wonwoo asks quietly, staring down at the car seat. The baby stares right back up at him, their eyes never leaving his face. It’s a little creepy, but at least they aren’t crying. 

“I don’t know? What if it’s a bomb?” 

“A bomb- What?” Wonwoo whirls around and glares at his best friend, who just shrugs his shoulders. 

“It hasn’t made a sound yet.” Jun explains. 

“Shit.” Wonwoo mutters. Jun has a point, at least. “It might be a bomb.” 

“So what do we do?” 

Wonwoo still doesn’t know what to do. The baby hasn’t made any kind of noise yet, but it’s still looking up at Wonwoo, their eyes big and curious. He  _ could _ pick it up, or he could call the cops, or he could just leave it and go back to bed. The last option seems to be the most appealing, but he figures that if the baby  _ is _ real then that might be a shitty thing to do, so he sighs and holds his hand out. 

“Give me the bat.” he tells Jun. The older boy complies and hands the bat over carefully, backing up just a little. Wonwoo grips it around the handle and then points it at the car seat, taking a deep breath. 

He lowers it slowly, and then taps the side of the car seat. Nothing happens. He taps it again. Still, nothing happens. He taps it harder, causing the carrier to sway a bit, and then  _ something _ happens. The baby makes a noise, and then starts crying, their wails filling the hallway. 

“Not a bomb.” Wonwoo panics, thrusting the bat back into Jun’s hands and looking around the area wildly. There are no serial killers coming to get them either, so Wonwoo assumes that someone  _ really _ just fucking dropped their child off on his doorstep, and groans. 

“What the  _ hell _ is going on?” a new voice says, and both Jun and Wonwoo whip around, finding Minghao standing in the middle of the living room looking  _ livid. _ He’s wearing one of Jun’s tee shirts and a pair of boxers, and his hair is sticking up in every direction. Minghao is intense on most days, and Wonwoo is kind of scared of him, but the murderous look in his eyes now has him shivering. 

“There’s a baby.” Jun points to the car seat, which the baby is still sitting in, their cries getting louder by the second. Minghao rolls his eyes. 

“Clearly. Why is there a baby?” 

“We don’t know.” Wonwoo mutters. “It’s not a bomb, though.” 

“You thought it- You know what, nevermind.” Minghao sighs and walks forward, pushing both Jun and Wonwoo out of the way before he bends down in front of the carrier. He slips the handle under his arm and then stands back up, walking back into the apartment and making his way over to the couch. “One of you get the other stuff.” 

Jun and Wonwoo watch the younger boy with wonderment in their eyes, before they snap out of it and do as told. Jun sets the bat down and grabs the diaper back and envelope, before Wonwoo shuts, locks, and deadbolts the front door. When he turns back around he finds that Minghao has set the carrier down on the coffee table, and is now staring down at it. 

“That’s as much as I can do.” he says, sounding exhausted. “I don’t know how to make her stop crying.” 

“How do you know it’s a her?” Wonwoo asks. He walks over and stands next to the younger boy, peering down at the baby with him. 

“She has on a pink onesie and a headband, I’m just assuming. Feel free to check if you want, though.” 

“No.” Wonwoo immediately says. He’ll take the assumption, no need to check. “What do we do now?” 

“Should we pick her up?” Jun suggests. Wonwoo doesn’t want to touch her, but if Jun wants to, he’ll let him. He gestures down at the baby.  

“Go for it.” 

“No, not me. You.” Jun says. Wonwoo shakes his head ‘no’. Minghao is already on his way back to the bedroom, clearly fed up with the situation. Wonwoo is about to do the same, and leave Jun to take care of the baby and figure out what to do with her, but then a knock sounds on the front door. Both he and Jun freeze, while the baby continues to cry. 

“You get it.” Jun says. Wonwoo scoffs. 

“You get it.” 

“What if it’s a murderer, though?” 

“So you want me to take one for the team?” Wonwoo asks sarcastically. Jun nods,  _ not _ sarcastically. Wonwoo sighs. Arguing with a stubborn Jun is pointless, so he gives in, and walks back to the front door. He grabs the bat before he looks through the peephole though, just to be sure. 

They’re in no danger, as it turns out. It’s just Jeonghan, their neighbor from across the hall and close friend. His long hair is in a messy bun and he has a robe on, looking far more pissed than Minghao had when he came out of the room. Jeonghan doesn’t generally scare Wonwoo, but now? He’s terrified. 

He slowly pulls the door open and before he can even get a word out, Jeonghan starts yelling at him. 

“What’s going on? Why are their crying sounds coming from your apartment? Joshua has an important test in the morning; if he wakes up, I’ll kill you.” 

Jeonghan’s boyfriend Joshua is a law student, top of his class, always gets good grades and will one day make the big bucks. He’s also one of the sweetest people Wonwoo has ever met, so he feels a little bad for potentially waking the older boy up. He thrusts a thumb back towards his living room. 

“Someone dropped a baby off on our doorstep.” 

Jeonghan’s face morphs into one of surprise rather than anger. He sighs and leans forward a little so that he can see into the apartment. 

“Why is it crying?” 

“We don’t know.” Wonwoo shrugs. “Do you know how to get it to stop?” 

Jeonghan sighs again and then steps into the apartment, causing Wonwoo to back up so that he can make his way over to the car seat. Wonwoo watches him as he bends down and peers at the baby, his eyebrows drawn in. 

“She’s probably just scared.” Jeonghan explains. He pushes two buttons on the side of the carrier and Wonwoo watches in amazement as the handle flips backwards, leaving the front of the carrier wide open. The older boy then begins to undo the straps on the baby, before he pulls her out of the car seat and clutches her to his chest. 

Immediately, the little girl calms down, her wails turning into hiccups and short breaths. Jeonghan pats at her back and bounces her up and down until she’s back to staring around the room. 

Really, he’s doing God’s work. 

“How’d you do that?” Jun asks, looking surprised. Jeonghan rolls his eyes. 

“You just have to rock her a bit. She was probably terrified, poor thing. Do you know where she came from?” 

Wonwoo shakes his head. He slowly closes the door, quietly so that he doesn’t startle the baby, and then walks back over to the couch. Jeonghan takes a seat and Wonwoo sits down next to him, curious as to how the older boy knows so much about kids. 

“Did she come with anything else, other than the diaper bag?” Jeonghan nods towards the diaper bag, which hasn’t moved from where Jun sat it down. The envelope is still on top of it, but it’s now joined with the stack of papers that had been slid under the door. 

“Just that envelope and those papers.” Wonwoo explains. Jeonghan holds his hand out expectantly, so Wonwoo hands him both the envelope and papers, so that he can look over them. While this is happening, the baby stays cuddled in his arms, biting on her fingers and kicking her feet a little. 

“It looks like a bunch of medical information, and legal documents. Maybe she- Wait, this says your name on it.” Jeonghan holds up a piece of notebook paper that’s been folded in half and glances at Wonwoo. Wonwoo quirks an eyebrow, but takes the paper, which  _ does _ have his name written on the front of it in black pen. He unfolds it and glances at the words written on the lines, finding them arranged in a letter formation. 

 

_ Wonwoo, _

 

His breath hitches as he begins to read the letter, worried for what he might find. 

 

_ My name is Hyunmi. I don’t know if you remember me, but we met about a year ago at a party. I went home with you that night, I’m sure you can piece together the rest.  _

 

Wonwoo  _ can _ piece together the rest, especially since he remembers  _ exactly _ who Hyunmi is. He had met her at a house party in the spring of last year, and she had gone home with him after she expressed that she just wanted to ‘let loose’. 

And boy, did they let loose. They had both been a little drunk but Wonwoo remembers the entire night. He remembers Hyunmi’s long, black hair and her cute nose, which he had mildly obsessed over for about a month afterwards. It was a short-lasting crush, but it had happened, and there’s no way he’s forgetting it. Especially since he’s only hooked up with a total of three people since he’s been at college, the most recent being Hyunmi.

 

_ About three weeks after we slept together, I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t want to tell you because any time I saw you on campus, you always seemed so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin that. I also feared that you’d find out, and then leave me with her indefinitely, so it was best to just do it by myself from the beginning.  _

_ The baby’s name is Nari. She’s four months old, and was born on January 22nd of this year. She came about three weeks early, but has done really well since being released from the hospital. She only has a weakened immune system, but that will correct itself as time goes.  _

_ I love her a lot, I really do, but I’m leaving for medical school abroad in a week and there’s no way I can take care of her while I study. I didn’t even really want to keep her to begin with, and I’m still not sure why I did. All I know is that I have no one else to turn to, and that you’re my last option.  _

_ I know Nari is yours. I’ve only had sex with one other person, and that was a year or so before I met you. No one else could be the father. She doesn’t look like me, but if I remember correctly, she has your eyes and jaw line.  _

 

Wonwoo gulps and looks at the baby sitting quietly in Jeonghan’s arms. She has sharp, dark eyes, and a tuft of black hair on the top of her head. Despite the baby fat, her jaw line is still prominent, and her ears stick out a little. Now that he  _ actually _ studies her, she  _ does _ look an awful lot like his baby pictures that his mom keeps hanging in their basement. He swallows the lump in his throat and goes back to reading the letter, his hands shaking. 

 

_ I’m so sorry for springing this on you, but I really didn’t know what else to do. My parents are not supportive and I have no other friends or family members that would be willing to take her for me. I couldn’t just turn her into the government and let them deal with her. That would be cruel.  _

_ I don’t want any contact with her or you after this. This has been hard enough as it is. I just want her to live a normal, happy, and healthy life. I understand if you’re not willing to keep her, but I do hope that you’ll learn to love her. She’s been a joy to take care of thus far.  _

_ I don’t want to be her mom, but I want you to be her dad. I want her to have that. I’ve enclosed all of her medical records and legal documents for you, as well as all of the money I could offer as help.  _

_ Like I said, after this, you won’t be hearing from me again. Please don’t try to find me. Just, give her the best possible life you can. Again, I’m very sorry for doing this to you. I hope you understand.  _

_ Best wishes,  _

_ Hyunmi. _

 

Wonwoo sighs and sets the letter down on the coffee table with his shaky fingers, before he brings his hands up to his face and runs them down it. This has to be a joke, it  _ has _ to be. Someone dropping a baby off on his doorstep, claiming that it’s his and giving complete custody to him? That kind of stuff only happens in movies and dramas. No, this must be a joke, Ashton Kutcher is going to pop out with a camera any time now. 

“What did it say?” Jun asks. He’s now sitting in their arm chair, going through the diaper bag, the money from the envelope already sitting out next to the car seat. Jeonghan is still holding  _ Nari, _ rocking her back and forth. Her eyes droop every few seconds, she looks like she’s about to fall asleep. 

“It, uh…” Wonwoo doesn’t know how to  _ speak, _ apparently. More than anything, though, he’s stunned. Ashton Kutcher still hasn’t shown up. He’s beginning to wonder if he’s dreaming, or experiencing a nightmare. The latter seems more appropriate as an explanation. 

“There’s like close to $3000 in this envelope, dude.” Jun says excitedly. “Who dropped her off?” 

“She’s mine.” Wonwoo mumbles. Of course, he’s not  _ 100% _ sure that Hyunmi is telling the truth, but when he looks at Nari again, he can see himself in her. Her lips are drawn in a thin line, but her cupid’s bow is obvious, looking almost identical to his. It’s almost scary. 

“She’s what?” Jun sets the contents of the diaper bag down and stares at Wonwoo, his eyes wide. 

“Mine.” Wonwoo repeats, and then sighs. “Do you remember Hyunmi?” 

Jun nods. He had been there for the entire ordeal, from the day after to the conclusion of Wonwoo’s mini crush. He definitely knows Hyunmi, or at least has heard of her. 

“She’s...ours. Mine and Hyunmi’s, apparently.” 

“You didn’t know this?” Jeonghan asks, speaking up for the first time. Wonwoo turns to him and shakes his head ‘no’. Jeonghan looks down at Nari, and then back up at Wonwoo, and the down at Nari again. He stares at Wonwoo and visibly sighs. 

“She looks like you.” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo lets out a shaky chuckle, nodding. “She does.” 

“So what did the letter say? Why did she drop her off here?” Jun looks confused, but also surprised, as he shifts his gaze from Nari to Wonwoo. 

“She said she couldn’t take care of her anymore, and didn’t have anywhere else to take her. She didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to burden me.” 

“Wow, how shitty.” Jeonghan mumbles. He shifts, careful to not wake Nari. “Did she leave a phone number or anything?” 

“She said she doesn’t want to be in Nari’s life, and to not contact her. She wants me to keep her though.” 

“Nari, that’s cute.” Jeonghan says. He sighs again and sits up. “What are you going to do?” 

“I don’t know.” Truthfully, Wonwoo is still having a hard time believing all of this. He’s a junior in college, he can’t take care of a  _ kid, _ and especially not with this kind of late notice. “Should I call the police?” 

“Do you want to?” Jeonghan asks. Wonwoo shrugs. He doesn’t know what he wants, honestly, but he knows that if calls the police, they’re just going to take Nari and turn her into an orphanage or put her into foster care. He knows enough to conclude that that might not be the best option. 

“Hey, you can always do a DNA test.” Jun suggests. Wonwoo perks up at the idea. “You can buy them at the drugstore, and send them off and get the results back in like, a couple of days. You know, just to be sure.” 

_ That’s a good idea, _ Wonwoo thinks. He wants to make sure Nari is actually his kid before he decides on anything. He’s almost 100% positive that he’s not going to keep her, there’s no way he could, but he’d still like to know if he has a kid out there. 

“You can get one tomorrow.” Jeonghan shifts on the couch and turns to Wonwoo. “But for now, you need to find a place for her to sleep.” 

He leans forward and tries to hand a passed-out Nari over to Wonwoo, but Wonwoo just protests, and squirms away to the back of the couch. Jeonghan rolls his eyes at him and still puts the baby in his arms, complaining that his own are tired. 

“I need to head back so Joshua doesn’t freak out if he wakes up, anyways.” Jeonghan says. “Just lay her down somewhere. You need sleep, you can figure out the rest in the morning.” 

“Can’t she just sleep in her car seat?” Wonwoo asks. He’s holding Nari practically at an arm's length, scared that if he so much as breathes the baby is going to wake up and start crying again. He’s held babies before, cousins and kids of his mom’s friends, but it’s been awhile. They weren’t his (suspected) own, either. 

“No.” Jeonghan scoffs. “If her neck drops forward while she’s sleeping, it could cut off her breathing, and she could die.” 

Wonwoo’s eyes widen. He hadn’t known that, in fact he knows next to nothing about children. He never wanted his own, and none of his current friends have any. He’s going at this blind, honestly. 

“Then what do I do?”

“Put her on your bed. Sleep on one side of her, and put pillows on the other side of her so she doesn’t roll off.” Jeonghan explains. 

“When will she wake up in the morning? I have class at 9 and another at noon, what do I do with her? What do I feed her?” Suddenly Wonwoo is panicking, because not only does he have to worry about himself, but he now has this tiny human that he has to care for for the time being. 

Yeah, there’s absolutely no way he’s keeping her. It’s only been an hour and he’s already freaking out. 

“Looks like you’re going to have to skip class. Call Soonyoung when you wake up in the morning, he can probably answer those questions the best out of all of us.” Jeonghan replies. He’s already walking back towards the front door, leaving Wonwoo with the sleeping baby still in his arms. “I really need to get back though. Call me in the morning and let me know how things go.” 

“Wait!” Wonwoo wants Jeonghan to stay and help him, wants to give Nari back to him so that he can take care of her, but Jeonghan just waves at him before he leaves the apartment. Jun trails after him and then locks the door once he’s gone. 

“Don’t give me those eyes.” Jun says, walking back into the living room. “I’m not taking her.” 

Wonwoo’s puppy dog eyes nearly never work on Jun, but he still tries. Jun just rolls his own eyes at him. He’s not going to break, and Wonwoo is going to be stuck with the little girl. 

“Just do what Jeonghan told you to do, and call Soonyoung in the morning.” 

Soonyoung’s older sister has a toddler and a newborn, and he’s always over at her house helping out, so Jeonghan is right. He’ll know what to do. Wonwoo can’t call him now, though, so he has to wait. And in the meantime, he has to lay Nari down. 

“Can’t believe you’re the first one to knock someone up.” Jun says as he begins to walk back to his bedroom. He looks exhausted, rubbing at his eyes and yawning. “Totally thought that’d be Seungcheol.” 

“You’re the worst best friend ever.” Wonwoo mutters, glaring as Jun walks down the hallway. Jun just snorts and throws a wave over his shoulder, shutting his bedroom door quietly. Wonwoo is left with the baby and the silence of the apartment. 

He’s afraid to stand up. Afraid that if he does, he’ll either wake Nari up, or drop her. Honestly he’s just afraid in general, because two hours ago he was sleeping peacefully and dreaming about beaches, and now he has a  _ kid. _ A kid that he had no idea even existed, but that he now has to take care of. 

He knows he’s not going to keep her. That much is obvious, if he does say so himself. He’s 20 years old, almost 21, and still in college. On Friday nights he goes out drinking with his friends, he spends most of his Saturday’s hungover, does his homework on Sunday nights when it’s usually due online within three hours. He can’t keep a plant alive, he lives off of ramen and microwavable meals. A child doesn’t fit into the picture, won’t ever fit into the picture, so he has to figure something out. 

Maybe he can call his mom, see if she knows what to do. He can always go to the authorities, even though he knows what’ll happen with Nari then. But if that’s his last option, he’ll have to take it. 

He stands hesitantly from the chair, clutching Nari closely to his chest. He grabs her small blanket from the car seat and walks slowly back to his room, shutting the door with his foot once he’s inside it. He walks over to his bed but doesn’t set her down just yet, instead comes up with a plan in his head on how this is going to work. 

He ends up setting Nari down in the middle of his bed, covering her in her blanket before he quickly grabs all of his pillows and makes a wall with them on her left side. He then walks around to the other side of the bed, the side closest to the door, and sits down on the edge of the mattress. There isn’t a lot of room left for him to lay down, but he makes due, curling up next to Nari so that he can act as her second barrier. 

He knows he won’t be sleeping anymore, so instead he opts to just stare at the small baby. She’s sprawled out on her back, with the blanket covering her bottom half, leaving her torso exposed. Wonwoo doesn’t want to disturb her though, so he leaves her be. 

He studies her features again, her dark eyelashes that fan out over her eyes, her button nose that scrunches up every time she breathes in. She truly is a beautiful baby, especially when she’s so peaceful and sleeping. Something tugs at his chest and he has to roll over onto his back and stare up at the ceiling to make the feeling go away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	2. Chapter 2

Wonwoo is  _ tired. _ He’s so exhausted that he’s sure he’s hallucinated everything that’s happened in the last 6 hours. When he rolls over, though, Nari is still laying on his bed, sound asleep. He sighs. 

One look at the clock hanging on his wall and he finds that it’s nearly 6 o’clock in the morning. The sun is beginning to rise, and he can hear birds chirping outside his window. He hasn’t even closed his eyes since he laid down. The only coherent thought running through his mind is  _ at least Nari sleeps through most of the night. _

_ Speaking of the baby. _ The four month old flops her arm over her chest and huffs out a breath, her nose scrunching up in the process. Wonwoo groans because her facial expressions look  _ just _ like his. She then yawns and her eyes shoot open, staring up at the ceiling. 

She doesn’t even let out a breath of air before she starts screaming. Wonwoo figures that it’s the unfamiliar setting that startles her. That, or she’s hungry. Either way, he begins to panic. 

“Okay, no, shhh.” he whispers, sitting up from the bed and peering over her. “Please stop, Uncle Minghao will kill me.” 

Wonwoo about brains himself on the bed frame once he realizes he’s said  _ Uncle Minghao. _ He freezes for a few seconds, and then shakes himself out of his trance, his attention going back to the baby. She’s still on her back wailing, her little legs kicking everywhere and her arms reaching upwards. He doesn’t really know what to do, so he just bends down and scoops her up, bringing her to his chest. 

It helps a little. She stops screaming, at least, and just switches to little whimpers here and there. Every time Wonwoo peers down at her, her bottom lip is trembling, and it honestly kind of breaks his heart. He’s never been one to coo and squeal over babies, or even dogs for that matter, but Nari has him near there. 

“Okay, let’s call Soonyoung now.” Wonwoo mumbles. He doesn’t know why he’s voicing all of this to the baby, she can’t even  _ understand _ him, but for some reason he can’t seem to stop. He tells her that they’re in the hallway when they are, and then introduces her to the kitchen once there, where his phone is still sitting on the countertop charging. He has a terrible time staying off of his phone at night, so he has to keep it out of his room, or else he’d never get any sleep. 

Nari can hold her head up entirely, Wonwoo has noticed, so he shifts the tiny baby to his side and clutches onto her with one arm while he dials Soonyoung’s number. She’s mostly calm now, only sniffles once or twice, and occupies herself with grabbing at Wonwoo’s hair. It kind of hurts but he lets her be, since he doesn’t know what else to do with her. 

Luckily, Soonyoung picks up on the third ring. His greeting is less than enthusiastic, though. 

“What?” 

“Good morning!” Wonwoo says, trying his best to be cheerful. He definitely isn’t, though. “I need your help.” 

“At 6 in the morning?” 

“Yes.” Wonwoo sighs, and looks down at Nari. She now has one of the strings of his sweatshirt in her mouth. “It’s kind of important.” 

Wonwoo listens as Soonyoung groans and then shuffles around, probably trying to get out of his room so that he can talk. His boyfriend, Chan, is the lightest sleeper Wonwoo has ever come to know. He’s even worse than Jun. 

“What’s up?” Soonyoung finally asks, after a few more moments of silence. Wonwoo huffs out a breath. 

“So last night, um, someone I hooked up with awhile ago dropped off a baby on our doorstep, and apparently it’s mine, and I don’t know what to do.” 

A beat of silence; then, laughter. Wonwoo grimaces. 

“You’re joking, right?” Soonyoung chokes out. 

“No.” Wonwoo mutters. He looks back down at Nari. She still has one hand in his hair, the other pinching his neck while she chews on the string. There’s slobber everywhere. “Please help me.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me, man. There’s no way.” 

Wonwoo is about to reply, but then Nari  _ screams, _ and smacks his cheek. Her hand is covered in spit and it takes everything within himself not to set her down on the ground and walk far, far away. 

“Shit.” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo sighs. “Tell me what to do.” 

“Why would I know what to do?” Soonyoung asks, sounding confused. Wonwoo sighs again. He just wants someone to  _ help him. _

“Your sister has kids, you’re over there like every day.” 

“Man, I just get down on the floor and play with them and shit. I never actually take care of them by myself, I think my sister would have a heart attack if she had to leave them with me.” 

“So you’re telling me,” Wonwoo begins, shifting Nari from one arm to his other, “-that you cannot offer me any help. None. Not a single tip.” 

“I mean, I might be able to help, but I don’t even know how old he is and stuff.” 

“It’s a she. Her name is Nari and she’s four months old.” Wonwoo recites, already having the information memorized. Not that it’s hard to remember, or anything. “She just woke up and I don’t know if I should feed her, or what.” 

“Of course you should feed her!” Soonyoung exclaims, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And change her. Jesus, you’re clueless.” More shuffling around. “I can be over there in ten minutes to help out, just let me get Chan up first.” 

“Why does Chan have to come?” 

Wonwoo loves Chan, he’s known the kid since Chan was in middle school and he was a freshman in high school, but really, he’d like for this to be kept on the downlow. Meaning, he wants the least amount of people to know about Nari as possible. 

“Because we have a class together at 9:30 and I don’t want to have to come pick him back up.” Soonyoung explains. “He won’t care.” 

Chan is a literal ray of sunshine, so Wonwoo knows even if he did mind, he’d never show it. Still, though, he’s nervous. He’s in kind of a weird situation. 

“Okay, fine, just please hurry. I don’t know when she’ll start crying again.” Wonwoo pleads. “I don’t want her to wake anyone up, Minghao’s already mad about it.” 

“Minghao doesn’t even live there, he can get over himself.” Soonyoung retorts. “We’ll be there soon, okay? Just...try to keep her happy.” 

Wonwoo doesn’t know  _ how _ to do that, it’s why he called Soonyoung in the first place, but he agrees anyways. The both of them hang up and then Wonwoo sets his phone back down on the counter. He turns back to Nari, who’s already looking up at him,  _ still _ chewing on the damn string. 

“And now we wait.” he mumbles. Nari just stares at him. He sighs and then nods once, before he walks over to the couch and plops down onto it. He sets Nari down on his thighs, and then removes his hands from her sides. 

He finds out  _ very quickly _ that Nari cannot hold herself up. She leans to the right and then topples sideways. Wonwoo catches her before she hits the ground, but it still shakes her up. Her bottom lip begins to tremble and he panics a little, bringing her to his chest and patting her back. 

“No, don’t cry, it’s okay. I’m sorry, it’s okay, shhh.” he pleads with her, rubbing soothing circles into her back. She doesn’t cry, thankfully, just shakes a little in his arms. It’s pretty heartbreaking, Wonwoo hates himself a lot for allowing her to get that way. She’s  _ tiny, _ she probably would have broke if she had fallen. 

“‘M really sorry.” he mumbles into the little bit of hair she has on the top of her head. Eventually she calms back down and then falls pliant in his arms. Wonwoo looks down at her and finds that she’s dozed back off again, her head pillowed in between his shoulder and neck while she drools on his sweatshirt. It’s a little gross, but he doesn’t move her, just sits there in silence until Soonyoung arrives. 

Like the older boy had promised, he arrives no more than fifteen minutes later. Wonwoo has to get up to open the door for him, but he doesn’t get the chance to say anything before Soonyoung barges his way in, dragging Chan behind him. 

“I got some formula at the convenience store down the road because I didn’t know if you had any.” Soonyoung sets the bag he had been carrying down on the kitchen table, and then turns to Wonwoo. “Did that girl leave any?” 

“I don’t know.” Wonwoo admits. He points over to the diaper bag still sitting on the coffee table. “She left that.” 

Soonyoung peers over at the bag, and then glares back at Wonwoo. “You didn’t check it?” 

Wonwoo shakes his head ‘no’, and Soonyoung sighs. 

“Well, we can look at it now.” He pauses, and then walks slowly up to Wonwoo. “Is this her?” 

“No, Soonyoung, it’s the other baby in the room. This one is fake, I’m practicing.” Wonwoo replies sarcastically. Soonyoung rolls his eyes at him and then peers around his shoulder to look at Nari. He grins.

“She’s fucking adorable, Won. Looks just like you.” 

“Um, thanks.” Wonwoo says. He doesn’t know what else to reply with, honestly. Does he take it as a compliment? Does he brush it off? He doesn’t fucking know. 

“Have you changed her yet?” Soonyoung then asks, peeling back to go look through the diaper bag. Wonwoo watches as he unzips it and then begins to go through it’s contents. There are diapers, bottles, binkies, normal baby stuff. There’s also a folded up piece of paper, and when Wonwoo walks over and reads through it, he finds that it’s a list of all the stuff Nari needs/what brands Hyunmi had previously used. He thanks the girl mentally, even though he’s extremely pissed at her. 

“No.” Wonwoo says back, shrugging when Soonyoung glares at him. Soonyoung holds his hands out, and Wonwoo hands Nari over without protesting. His arms were getting pretty tired anyways. 

“And she hasn’t been fussy?” Wonwoo shakes his head ‘no’, because she really hasn’t, all things considering, and Soonyoung’s eyebrows skyrocket. “Either she’s just as freaked out as everyone else, or you have an angel baby.” 

Wonwoo smiles shyly at the words ‘angel baby’, because honestly, Nari does look like a little angel. He can’t even deny it. 

He watches as Soonyoung slowly lowers Nari down onto the ground, laying her down on a blanket he’s spread out that he had found in the diaper bag. She’s still asleep but when her back hits the ground she begins to stir, her little fists coming up to rub at her eyes. When they finally do open she stares up at Soonyoung with wide, curious eyes, though she doesn’t cry like Wonwoo had been expecting. 

“Oh my God.” Soonyoung mutters, staring back down at her. “I am already in love with this baby.” He looks up at Wonwoo, grin on his face. “You’re keeping her, right?” 

“No.” Wonwoo scoffs. “There’s no way I could, even if I wanted to.” 

Soonyoung sighs and frowns a little, before he gets to work unbuttoning the pink thing Nari is wearing. Minghao had called it something the night before, but Wonwoo can’t remember the name. 

“No, I get it.” Soonyoung replies. “So what are you going to do with her?” 

“Still not sure.” Wonwoo sighs and takes the dirty diaper away from Soonyoung once the older has finished cleaning Nari up. He stands up and walks it to the trashcan. “Jun suggested taking a DNA test, because even though I’m not keeping her I still want to know if she’s actually mine.” 

“That’s a good idea.” Soonyoung nods as he puts a clean diaper on the baby. “But really, I’m pretty positive she’s yours. She looks exactly like you.” 

“I know.” Wonwoo sighs and sits back down on the ground next to Soonyoung and Nari. Soonyoung buttons the bottom of the outfit back up on Nari and then picks her up, before cuddling her to his chest. She doesn’t protest, just melts into him, grabbing for the collar of his shirt. “I was thinking about going to an adoption agency, and just keeping her until someone took her.” 

Wonwoo had thought about his options all night long. He even drug out his laptop about an hour into laying on the bed in silence, googling what he could do with Nari. Adoption seemed like the best option out of all of them; he could find a nice, caring family for her, and move on with his life. 

“Adoption can sometimes take up to months, Wonwoo…” Soonyoung trails off, patting at Nari’s back while he bounces her up and down.  _ He looks so much more natural doing it than I do, _ Wonwoo thinks. 

“Well…” Wonwoo doesn’t really know what to do with that information. He was planning on keeping her for a week, two tops. “I don’t know what else to do then. I don’t just want to hand her over to the government.” 

“Have you called your mom yet?” 

Wonwoo grimaces, shaking his head. He knows his parents would be supportive and offer any kind of help that they could, but he doesn’t want them to stop their lives for him. He also doesn’t want to see the disappointment on their faces once they realize he’s knocked some random girl up. He’d rather just deal with it on his own and never have them know about it. 

“Maybe you should, they would help you out.” 

“I don’t want them to.” Wonwoo replies. He’s about to say something else, but then Chan speaks up, making his presence known for the first time since he’s arrived. 

“I might know someone who could help while you figure stuff out.” 

Wonwoo peers over at the younger boy and finds him sprawled across their armchair, looking half-asleep. He’s got a hat on as well as one of Soonyoung’s sweatshirts, and usually he’s the kind of kid to dress nicely for classes, but today he looks homeless. Wonwoo smiles at him. 

“Yeah? Who?” 

“This kid I sit next to in english is an early childhood education major. He always talks about his daycare job. I could ask him for his help today in class if you want?” 

“Yes, please.” Wonwoo says immediately, nodding along enthusiastically. Soonyoung has changing diapers and the formula down, but Wonwoo knows there’s more to taking care of an infant than that. He himself is clueless, if almost dropping his child off of his lap is anything to go by, so he’ll take all the help he can get.

“Okay.” Chan yawns, and nods. “Class is at noon, I’ll ask him then.” 

“You’re the best.” Soonyoung grins up as his boyfriend before he looks back down at Nari. The baby is still awake and quiet, but her lip is jutted out, indication that she’s sad. “I think she may be hungry.” 

“Okay. Um…” Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do next. He glances up at Soonyoung questioningly. 

“Take one of the bottles in the bag and put two scoops of the formula already in the diaper bag into it. There’s a scoop in the box. Fill it up with warm water to the five ounce mark and then shake it up.” 

Wonwoo nods, already overwhelmed, and then begins to do as told. He grabs one of the pink bottles from the diaper bag as well as the box of formula, and then makes his way into the kitchen, where he prepares the bottle. He finds that it’s pretty easy and doesn’t take long at all, and before he knows it he has a full bottle in his hands and is walking back into the living room. 

“Do you want to feed her?” Soonyoung asks when he sees Wonwoo. Wonwoo shakes his head and thrusts the bottle at Soonyoung, who laughs and takes it. The older boy stands up from the ground and then sits down on the couch. He repositions Nari and then sticks the bottle into her mouth. Wonwoo is amazed by how quickly she starts sucking on it. 

“She’s starving, I feel bad now.” he mumbles. Soonyoung waves him off. 

“She’s okay.” he leans back on the couch and props his elbow up. “So, Jeon Wonwoo is a dad. Never thought that would happen.”

Wonwoo sighs and sits down on the opposite side of the couch. He keeps a close eye on the baby. 

“Me neither.” 

“You haven’t killed her yet, so I think you’re doing okay.” Soonyoung points out. Wonwoo just glares at him. 

“That isn’t funny.” 

“You’re right, it’s not. Still, though.” 

Wonwoo sighs. “I just want to find her somewhere safe to go, where she’ll be happy.” 

“And you will. It just might take a little while. In the meantime, you have me.” 

Wonwoo is about to reply, but then a door shuts behind him and he whirls around. He finds Minghao walking down the hallway, looking tired but considerably less annoyed than earlier. He has an 8 am and he’s always been fairly grumpy in the morning, so Wonwoo doesn’t know why he schedules early classes every semester, but then he gets back from his own classes and finds Minghao taking naps nearly every day and  _ understands.  _

“Good morning!” Soonyoung greets the younger, his cheery self coming out while Minghao walks into the kitchen to make coffee. 

“Morning.” Minghao replies, and then yawns. “How’s the baby?” 

“She’s okay.” Wonwoo responds, turning on the couch so that he’s facing Minghao. “Her name is Nari.” 

“That’s cute.” Minghao takes his to-go mug away from the Keurig and then walks into the living room, leaning up against the wall so that he can talk to them all. “Are you keeping her?” 

“No.” Wonwoo shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.” 

“Mm.” Minghao nods, taking a sip of his drink. “I know someone who might know some stuff. I think he’s a daycare teacher, or something.” 

“Oh?” Wonwoo perks up at this, curious as to why his friends know so many people who are good with kids. 

“Yeah. His name is Mingyu, he’s in the class I’m about to go to.” 

“You know Mingyu too?” Chan sits up in the arm chair and looks at Minghao, before he looks back at Wonwoo. “That’s who I was going to ask this afternoon.” 

_ If both Chan and Minghao know Mingyu and approve of him, he must be nice, _ Wonwoo thinks. 

“Yeah. I can ask him, or you can, it doesn’t matter.” Minghao shrugs. 

“You do it, since you’ll see him first.” Chan replies, nodding. “Plus, you probably know him better.” 

Minghao shrugs again, before he makes his way over to the front door. He grabs his backpack off of the ground, as well as his car keys from the hanger on the wall. “Okay.” 

“Thanks, Minghao.” Wonwoo tells the younger, genuinely appreciative. Minghao grins at him and then leaves the apartment, ready to start his day. 

“Mingyu is really cool.” Chan says, leaning back into the armchair. “He’s really sweet and you can tell he loves kids by the way he talks about the daycare.” 

“That’s good.” Wonwoo hums. He peers back over at Nari, who’s nearly done with the bottle now. Her eyes are hooded again, looking half asleep as she continues to suck on the liquid. Soonyoung is rubbing circles into her back, subconsciously, while he hums something. Wonwoo sighs. 

It’s going to be a long day. 

 

~

 

“Got the stuff!” Jun cheers as he bangs through the front door, signaling his return from class. Minghao is behind him with a tray of drinks and a bag of fast food in his hands, looking exhausted. 

Wonwoo is grateful that his best friend was willing to buy more diapers, baby wipes, and a DNA test for him, but he also  _ hates _ him because he’s fucking loud and they had  _ just _ gotten Nari down for a nap. 

_Angel baby no more,_ because Nari had spent a good portion of the early afternoon screaming at the top of her lungs. Soonyoung, who had stayed back from classes to help Wonwoo out (god bless his heart), had tried tirelessly to get the baby to sleep for more than an hour. It took Wonwoo laying down with her in his bed for her to finally fall asleep.   

“Shut up!” Wonwoo hisses, tired beyond everything else. “She just fell asleep.” 

“Sorry!” Jun whispers back, holding his hands up in defense. He sets the bag of his purchases down onto the kitchen table and then stalks off to his room, probably to change his clothes. Wonwoo watches him, making sure he stays quiet. 

“We got food too.” Minghao says, setting his own things down onto the table. Wonwoo groans when he notices the  _ McDonald’s _ bag, because he hasn’t eaten a thing all day long and he’s starving. He tears into it and finds his usual order, thanking Minghao quietly before stuffing his face with french fries. Only Soonyoung laughs at him. 

Jun comes back out a few minutes later, dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt. He grabs his own food and then makes his way into the living room, sitting down on the far end of the couch. Wonwoo grabs the convenience store bag and follows the older. Soonyoung and Minghao join them. 

“The guy at the pharmacy front desk said that the company that does the test isn’t very far away, so if we get it in the mail before the mail guy comes, we should get it back tomorrow.” Jun explains, before he bites into his cheeseburger. Wonwoo grabs the box from the bag and looks at it, reading the writing displayed on the back of it.  

All they have to do is swab the inside of both Wonwoo and Nari’s cheeks, place the swab in their tubes, seal them and label them, and then send them off. Not too hard, definitely not painful. Their apartment complex’s mailman comes at 5:00, and it’s 3:30, so Wonwoo decides that they’ll do it after Nari wakes up. 

“Thanks for picking it up.” Wonwoo mumbles, setting the box down onto the coffee table. Jun shrugs at him, indicating that it’s no big deal. 

“Oh, hey.” Minghao says after a few moments, wiping a bit of ketchup off of the corner of his mouth. Wonwoo turns to him. 

“I talked to Mingyu. He said that he could help out whenever, just to let him know. He works every day from 3 to 6, though.” 

“Okay.” Wonwoo nods, taking his own burger out of it’s wrapping. “Do you think he could come over tomorrow?” 

“Oh, yeah, he doesn’t have classes on Friday so he said tomorrow would actually be perfect for him to come over and help.” Minghao explains. “I can give you his number if you want to text him.” 

“Yeah, just text it to me.” Wonwoo replies. Minghao nods and does as told, and within a few seconds Wonwoo feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out and opens Minghao’s text up, before saving the new contact. He immediately starts a thread up with the Mingyu guy. 

 

**Hey, is this Mingyu? This is Wonwoo, my friend Minghao said he spoke with you today. <**

 

Wonwoo isn’t much of a formal texter, but he really needs this kids help, so he gives it his best shot. Within seconds the three dots appear next to Mingyu’s name. 

 

**> ya, this is mingyu. hi!**

 

Mingyu hadn’t used capital letters, and Wonwoo lets out a sigh of relief. He smiles down at his phone. 

 

**thanks for offering to help, i appreciate it a lot. do you think you could come over tomorrow? <**

  **> definitely. minghao didnt tell me a lot. is she a newborn, or older?**

  **she’s four months old. her name is nari. <**

  **> Nari, that’s really cute. she probably gets up early, right? would it be too early for me to come over around seven? sounds like you’re not sure at all what to do lol **

 

Wonwoo snorts down at his phone. If he hadn’t been so desperate, he may have taken offence to the statement. He needs Mingyu’s help, though, and he seems willingly to do whatever, so he just types out his reply with a smile on his face. 

 

**i’m clueless. seven would be perfect, i think she can sleep until then. <**

  **> lol sounds good then. see you tomorrow? **

 

Wonwoo thanks Mingyu and then sends him his address, ending their short conversation with a promise from Mingyu to come prepared. Wonwoo snorts again and pockets his phone, before he looks back up at all of his friends. 

“He said he could be here at seven tomorrow morning.” 

“That’s good.” Soonyoung nods. Wonwoo had about lost it when Soonyoung said he couldn’t stay tomorrow to help out, claiming he had a couple of quizzes he definitely couldn’t miss. He’s not ready to be on his own, so he’s thankful that this Mingyu guy is so willing to help. 

Wonwoo is preparing to eat the rest of his food, opening his ketchup packets for his fries, when a string of cries sounds from his room. He hasn’t gotten used to it yet so he barely registers it, just continues to set out the food in front of him, but then he looks up and finds all of his friends staring at him and  _ realizes. _

“Oh.” he mumbles. He wipes his hands on his sweatpants and then stands up from the couch. “I, uh…” 

As he begins to walk off down the hallway, Jun and Soonyoung join each other in laughing at him. He refrains from flipping them off behind his back, and instead just continues to his room. 

When he opens the door he finds Nari squirming in the middle of the bed, the pillows Wonwoo had laid out still creating a barrier around her. She’s screaming at the stop of her lungs, the wails filling the room and making Wonwoo’s ears hurt. He grimaces and walks towards her, picking her up and bringing her to his chest in an attempt to sooth her. 

“Why are you awake? You only slept for like, 30 minutes.” Wonwoo says quietly, as if he’s expecting a response. Nari just continues to cry, her tears wetting his tee shirt. She was fed before her nap, and Soonyoung changed her (Wonwoo can’t, he gags every time, he can only carry the diapers to the trash) before they laid her down, so he doesn’t know what the problem is. 

“Why are you so upset?” he mumbles, walking around his room aimlessly. Soonyoung had demonstrated to him the ‘pat and bounce’, which he’s doing now, because he doesn’t know what else to do. Nari doesn’t calm down, though, so after about five minutes Wonwoo walks back out to the living room, looking for Soonyoung because he needs help. 

“She won’t stop crying.” he mumbles, facing Soonyoung. Minghao, who Wonwoo can see out of the corner of his eye, gives him a ‘no kidding’ look. 

“Is her diaper wet?” Soonyoung asks. He doesn’t move from the couch, though, and Wonwoo sighs. He hasn’t actually checked, had just assumed it wasn’t. He maneuvers Nari a little so he can check the strip on the front of her diaper. 

It’s the coolest thing, really. Soonyoung had told him about how the little blue strip on the front of the diapers will turn yellow when they’re wet, indicating that they need to be changed. Wonwoo thinks whoever invented  _ that _ should get some kind of an award. 

But when he checks, the strip is still blue, which tells him that something else is wrong with the baby. He looks back up at Soonyoung, desperate now because Nari is still screaming. 

“Okay, did- Wait.” Soonyoung sighs and smacks the middle of his forehead. “I forgot to burp her, she’s probably gassy. Sorry, man.” 

Wonwoo’s eyes widen. What does that mean? Is Nari okay? Is she sick, does he have to take her to the hospital? He can’t deal with that, he can barely drag  _ himself _ to the doctor’s office when he isn’t feeling well. How is he going to take care of a sick, tiny, baby? 

“Dude, you look like you’re going to throw up.” Soonyoung says, breaking Wonwoo out of his panic. “She’s fine, you just have to burp her. Hold her over your shoulder and pat her back.” 

Wonwoo has watched Soonyoung do this before, so he nods and positions Nari over his shoulder, holding her head until she stabilizes it. He then begins to pat at her back, all the while still bouncing up and down. She instantly starts calming down, her screams turning into normal cries, and then just whimpers. She doesn’t burp, though, until-

“Why is my shoulder all wet?” Wonwoo asks, trying to peer behind him to see what happened. Jun cackles and points at the ground. 

“She threw up all over you.” he says in between laughing. Wonwoo looks down and finds a small puddle of vomit on the floor. He gags, and walks over to Soonyoung, holding out the baby. 

“Please take her.” he says, nearly dry heaving. Soonyoung laughs and grabs Nari, reaching for the napkins on the coffee table. He wipes at at her mouth and Wonwoo thinks that they might be too rough for her baby skin, but he doesn’t say anything about it, because he’s about to throw up himself. 

“It’s just baby throw up.” Minghao comments. “Just wipe it up and change your shirt, stop being a whimp.” 

Wonwoo glares at the younger boy. He walks over to the kitchen and grabs a bunch of paper towels, before going back to the spot on the floor. He bends down and wipes the white substance up, trying his best not to hurl in the process. He quickly walks the paper towels over to the trash can when he’s done, and then makes his way back to his room, where he changes his shirt and discards the soiled one. 

When he comes back out into the living room, Nari is sitting happily on Soonyoung’s lap, patting at his cheeks and pulling on his hair. Jun is cooing at her as if nothing has happened. 

“Well,” Wonwoo begins, as he sits back down on the couch, “-I guess now is as good as time as any to do the test.” 

“Oh, yeah, do it while she’s happy and awake.” Soonyoung says. He passes Nari back over to Wonwoo, who takes her and sets her on his lap, wrapping an arm around her side so that they don’t have a repeat of what happened in the  _ morning. _ He then reaches forward and grabs the DNA testing box. He pulls it open without much difficulty, grabbing one of the swabs and foregoing the directions. 

There are gloves at his disposal, but they didn’t say to use those specifically, so he ignores them and just opens up the sterile packaging of the swab. 

“Do I just...stick it in her mouth?” he asks no one in particular, looking up for help. All three of his friends nod. He sighs and looks back down at Nari. He takes a deep breath, and then brings his hand forward, sticking the swab into Nari’s mouth. 

She doesn’t cry, which he’s thankful for. Instead, she swats at the handle, and then tries to grab it once Wonwoo pulls it out of her mouth. He holds it out of her reach and quickly deposits it in the tube it had come with, handing it to Soonyoung. 

“Can you label it?” 

“Yeah.” Soonyoung takes it and then gets up to find a pen. Wonwoo does the same with his own swab, tossing it to Soonyoung when it’s in the tube and then turning back to Nari. 

She has one of her tiny hands fisted into his tee shirt, the other waving about, gesturing at Minghao. Minghao is staring back at her, looking uncertain, but eventually waves back. She grins at him. Wonwoo is pretty sure he’s never seen anything more adorable in his life. 

“I can take them down to the mailbox.” Jun says when Soonyoung gets back from labeling the tubes. He also already has put them into the sending package, labeling that with the addresses as well. He hands it to Jun, who takes it and then stands up, making his way over to the front door. 

“Thanks.” Wonwoo tells both him and Soonyoung. Jun throws a thumbs up his way before he leaves, while Soonyoung just smiles at him. 

“And now we wait.” Soonyoung mutters as he sits back down in his spot on the couch, going back to his food. 

Wonwoo sighs. He peers down at Nari, who’s now grabbing at her toes, making gurgling noises and babbling away. He smiles at her. 

“Yeah. Now we wait.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	3. Chapter 3

Wonwoo leans forward, propping himself up with his elbows, which are digging into his knees. He’s sitting on the coffee table, across from Nari, who’s propped up by a bunch of pillows positioned around her. Wonwoo is glaring at the kid, but Nari is glaring right back, her little eyebrows bunched together as she stares at him. It’s 5:20 in the morning, and Wonwoo has slept  _ maybe _ an hour. 

“Listen kid.” he begins, speaking to Nari as if she’s grown and will understand every word he says. She only really responds to her name, and that may just be by chance. “You have to sleep longer than a couple of hours. I’m basically a kid myself, I need my sleep, or I get grumpy and that’s not fun for anyone.” 

Nari replies by blowing a spit bubble and batting the air with her balled up fists. Wonwoo sighs. 

“You gotta stop screaming whenever you don’t get something you want, too, because you’re going to wake Minghao and Jun up and they’re even more grumpy than I am. You’re cute but Minghao will still yell at me about you.” 

Wonwoo had  _ thought _ he had mastered the process of making a bottle and feeding Nari, reveling in the compliments Soonyoung gave him before he left the apartment, but apparently he has not. He doesn’t mix the formula quick enough, and Nari let’s him know it, screaming half way through Wonwoo trying to shake the bottle up. 

“What can I do to make it better, Nari?” Wonwoo sighs, and runs a hand down his face. Nari squeals and starts chewing on her fingers again. 

Wonwoo is exhausted and no matter how cute the baby sitting in front of him is, he needs sleep. He needs sleep  _ like yesterday _ and Mingyu is going to be at the apartment in less than two hours, so Wonwoo really needs to figure something out before he goes absolutely crazy. 

“How about we sleep together on the couch?” Wonwoo suggests, his last resort. Nari moves her head a little and Wonwoo takes it as a nod. He claps his hands together, once, quietly, and stands up from the coffee table. He picks Nari up and then grabs the blanket off of the back of the couch, before he sits down on the far end. He sets Nari in the crook of his arm, props it against the arm of the couch, and then settles down into the cushions, throwing the blanket over the both of them. 

Ten minutes later and Nari still hasn’t settled down. Wonwoo is too afraid to close his eyes, fearing that if he does Nari will somehow squirm out of his arms and fall onto the ground. So, he keeps himself awake by watching the baby intently, noting down her every move. Most of the time, she just babbles and grabs at her toes, which have somehow managed to wiggle out from under the blanket. 

“Okay.” Wonwoo sighs, having enough of it. “Nope, we’re not doing this.” 

He moves Nari from the crook of his arm to his chest, where he lays her down on her stomach, her head pillowed right above his heart. He’s noticed that if she’s on someone’s chest, she usually calms down. Almost immediately she stops squirming, going still in his arms. He sighs again and covers them both back up with the blanket, closing his eyes for the first time in what feels like  _ months. _

 

 The next time he opens them, there’s light streaming through the windows. He glances at the clock hanging on the wall by the front door and notes that it’s 8:10 in the morning. 

_ Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. _ Wonwoo sits up, slowly as to not startle Nari, because she’s still sound asleep on his chest. He cradles her head in his hands so that she doesn’t move very much while he turns his body. 

He comes face to face with a man, who’s sitting at his kitchen table, holding his hands up in a defensive manner while he stares right back at Wonwoo. Wonwoo is about to go get the safety bat, but then the guy opens his mouth to speak. 

“I’m Mingyu.” he whispers quickly, his eyes flicking down to Nari. “Your roommate, Jun, let me in. But uh, you guys were sleeping, and he said you hadn’t gotten much sleep lately so I thought I’d let you rest. Um.” 

Wonwoo continues to blink at Mingyu. He’s never fully aware when he first wakes up, and right now, he’s confused as hell. 

“This is weird, I’m sorry, I should have had Jun wake you up.” 

“No.” Wonwoo croaks out, his voice making Nari jump in her sleep. He rubs circles into her back so that she doesn’t wake up. “It’s fine. Uh, thanks for coming.” 

“Yeah, no problem.” Mingyu mutters, nodding. Wonwoo scrunches his eyebrows together and studies the other boy. 

Mingyu has black hair that’s fallen across his forehead, but for some reason, still looks styled. He has on a sweatshirt and a pair of dark wash jeans that Wonwoo can see under the table. He looks pretty tall, even sitting down. He also looks to be around the same age as Wonwoo, if only a little younger, which his puppy-dog face gives away. He’s attractive, that’s for sure. 

“Well.” Wonwoo sighs and stands up from the couch, his hand still cradling Nari’s head. He walks over to where Mingyu is sitting, throwing on his best friendly-smile. “I’m Wonwoo.” 

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Mingyu mumbles out, laughing a little. Wonwoo’s grin grows wider; Mingyu has a nice laugh. 

“Really, thanks for coming.” Wonwoo reiterates, because he’s very appreciative of the other boy at the moment. “Um, we didn’t sleep very good last night, and just kind of crashed on the couch. I don’t really want to wake her up, so…” 

“No, yeah, that’s cool.” Mingyu tells him. “Is she okay?” 

“She’s fine!” Wonwoo reassures the other, his voice quiet. He’s kind of thought about it, and might know why Nari can’t really sleep. “I think she’s just adjusting to her new surroundings? I’m not for sure, but that seems like a likely explanation.” 

“That’s probably why.” Mingyu nods. “A lot of the kids at the daycare can’t take naps the first week or so they’re there. I work at one, by the way, so I like, know stuff about kids.” 

Wonwoo chuckles. “Yeah, Minghao and Chan told me you did.” 

“Oh, you know Chan?” Mingyu asks, his eyebrows raising. Wonwoo nods. He’s kind of tired from standing, so he quietly sits down in one of the chairs across from Mingyu. 

“He’s dating my friend Soonyoung.” Wonwoo explains. Mingyu nods this time, making a little ‘ah’ sound in understanding. 

Things go quiet for a few moments after that. Mingyu drums his fingers against the table, Wonwoo draws little pictures into Nari’s back with his thumb. It’s kind of awkward, so after awhile, Wonwoo just decides to tell Mingyu what’s up. 

“Honestly, I don’t really know anything. I know how to feed her and how to change her diaper, but I don’t really like to do that.” 

Mingyu looks up and snorts. Wonwoo sighs. 

“That’s okay.” Mingyu shrugs. “I’m pretty good with kids, and I’m your free personal babysitter until I have to leave for work, so I can help with whatever you need me to.” 

Wonwoo wonders if this kid is an angel sent from above, or what. He smiles at the boy, and Mingyu smiles back at him, genuine. 

“Awesome.” Wonwoo nods once. “So like, should I feed her when she wakes up then?” 

Mingyu snorts again and looks at Wonwoo, asking with his eyes if he’s actually being serious. Wonwoo just shrugs; he wasn’t joking when he said he was clueless. Mingyu sighs. 

“Yes. How often do you feed her?” 

“Uh, just whenever she starts crying and I give her the bottle and she actually takes it.” 

“Oh, good lord…” Mingyu laughs lightly and places his face in his hands, shaking his head slowly. Wonwoo cracks a small smile because  _ yeah, _ he’s a bit ridiculous. 

“So anyways…” Wonwoo begins, shifting in his seat, careful not to disturb the sleeping baby still in his arms. “How much did Minghao tell you?” 

“Just that you had a new baby and didn’t know what to do with her.” Mingyu shrugs. “You don’t have to tell me anything else if you don’t want to.” 

Wonwoo appreciates that, he really does. He doesn’t want to tell Mingyu anything, honestly, but he figures that he kind of owes it to him since he’s so willing to help out, especially being a stranger and all. 

“She kind of...came to me unexpectedly, so I had no time to prepare.” 

Mingyu nods, understanding. 

“I just want to keep her happy and healthy until I can figure something else out.” Wonwoo explains. Mingyu gives him a small smile. 

“Well, it’s a good thing you found me!” he says excitedly. “I love kids. I’m an early childhood education major, by the way. I want to teach kindergarteners one day.” 

Wonwoo peers at the boy sitting in front of him, trying his best to picture him as a kindergarten teacher. Despite the fact that Mingyu is crazy tall (really, he hasn’t even stood up yet, but Wonwoo can just tell by how long his legs are), and has an incredibly deep voice, Wonwoo can see it. His face is kind and constantly smiling. If he was a parent, he’d want his kids to have him as a teacher. 

Well, he is a parent, kind of...but anyways. 

“That’s what I heard.” Wonwoo grins. “That’s cool.” 

Mingyu shrugs. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was little. What about you? What are you studying?” 

“Oh, me? Um, engineering.” Wonwoo mumbles. “Architectural engineering, more specifically.” 

He likes numbers and he likes putting things together, the job just kind of fits him. The schooling is hard, but he manages, and enjoys it most of the time. 

“Engineering, huh? That pays pretty good, Nari’s set for life.” Mingyu jokes. Wonwoo wonders if he had been too vague when saying he only wanted to keep the baby happy and healthy until he figured something else out, because Mingyu seems to think that he’s keeping her. He doesn’t correct the boy, though; he only smiles. 

Wonwoo doesn’t really know what else to say after that, which is why he’s actually grateful when Nari begins to stir on his chest. He peers down at her and watches as she squirms around, waking herself up and bringing her firsts up to rub at her eyes. He’s noticed that she does that same motion every single time she wakes up. 

“Good morning.” he grins down at her, when she lifts her head up and stares at him. It’s kind of cute, especially when she smiles at him. “We have a visitor today!” 

Wonwoo maneuvers Nari around so that she’s now sitting on his lap, her back cradled by his arms. When she notices Mingyu, she stares at him for a few moments, and then her bottom lip juts out and her eyes tear up. 

“No, no, don’t cry.” Wonwoo pleads, immediately holding her closer. He looks up at Mingyu for help. 

“It’s okay, she’s probably just overwhelmed with all of the new faces she’s seen.” Mingyu grins. “Maybe try changing her? You should probably start getting into a schedule, babies like that. When she wakes up in the morning, change her, and then feed her.” 

“Oh, okay, good idea.” Wonwoo mumbles. He clutches Nari to his chest and then stands up from the kitchen table, walking back into the living room and over to the coffee table, where the diaper bag is still sitting. He grabs the blanket they use for changings, laying it down onto the ground and then setting Nari down on top of it. 

He grabs everything he needs to change her diaper, and then sits down in front of her; he doesn’t proceed, though. He’s changed her before. Soonyoung had practically forced him to do it by himself before he had left, saying that he couldn’t just rush over and change Nari every time. Wonwoo understood that. He still understands it. That doesn’t mean he likes doing it, though. 

“Do you not know how to?” Mingyu asks, walking over to join them in the living room. Wonwoo looks up at him, biting his lip. 

_ Fuck, he’s really damn tall. _

“No, I do.” Wonwoo sighs. “I just don’t...like to.” 

“Oh boy, if you think this is gross, you’re in trouble.” Mingyu teases. He leans up against the wall next to the breakfast bar, and pockets his hands. Wonwoo glares at him. 

Mingyu doesn’t make any other moves, so Wonwoo sighs and goes back to diaper-changing. He looks down at Nari, who’s already staring up at him, her fingers in her mouth. He picks up the baby wipes and gets to work. 

When he’s done (and it doesn’t go horribly, he doesn’t even gag) he picks Nari back up, grabs the dirty diaper, and then stands up. He goes straight to the trash can and then washes his hands, all the while clutching Nari to his side. When he turns around and looks at Mingyu, the other is laughing quietly, shaking his head. 

“What?” 

“You don’t have to carry her everywhere.” the younger boy explains. “Do you have a bouncy seat she can sit in? Maybe a boppy?” 

“I don’t know what a boppy is,” Wonwoo begins, his eyes wide, “-but, um, all I have is the diaper bag.” 

“That’s  _ it?” _ Mingyu asks, surprised. He does a terrible job of hiding his emotions, Wonwoo has come to find out. “What does she wear?” 

“Um, whatever is in the diaper bag. I think she’s worn it all, though, so I need to do laundry.” Wonwoo suddenly feels bad. They had gotten extra diapers and wipes, and Soonyoung had brought formula over, but Wonwoo really didn’t know what else he needed besides that. He honestly believed that he could just survive off of that. 

“Okay.” Mingyu notices Wonwoo’s discomfort, and gives him a small smile, his eyes understanding. “I don’t know how long you’re planning on caring for her-”  _ Ah, so he hadn’t been too vague, _ “-but there’s some basic stuff that you should probably get to make it easier on yourself. Plus, it’s better for her. I don’t want to tell you what to do or boss you around, but, uh…” 

“No, I get it.” Wonwoo chuckles. “I’m glad you’re telling me all of this, I had no idea I needed more stuff.”  

Mingyu grins at him, and then looks down at Nari, who’s sitting comfortably on his hip. She has his tee shirt bunched in her mouth. He’s used to it now, having things being constantly slobbery. 

“She’s really cute, by the way. Looks just like you.” 

Wonwoo holds back a smile as he walks over to kitchen sink to retrieve a clean bottle. He’s heard it a million times, but with each new person that mentions it, he grows happier. He doesn’t know why, but he just goes with it, happily accepting the compliment. 

“Thank you.” He grabs a bottle and sets it down on the countertop, before turning to the formula and taking out two scoops of it. Luckily, Nari doesn’t scream this time around, so he’s able to shake the bottle in peace. 

“I’m going to feed her, and then maybe do you want to go to the store with us? That way you can help me get some stuff?” 

Wonwoo doesn’t know how else to spend the day. He’s skipping his classes again, and Mingyu doesn’t have to leave until the afternoon, so they’re basically free to do whatever. He figures that it might be kind of awkward to just sit around the apartment all day, and he can see himself losing it if he has to shop on his own, so this is the perfect opportunity. 

“Sure.” Mingyu agrees. He follows Wonwoo into the living room and sits down in the armchair, while Wonwoo plops down on the far end of the couch. He hands Nari her bottle and watches as she latches on immediately, sucking enthusiastically. The little girl is an eater, that’s for sure. 

It doesn’t take Nari long to finish her bottle; she eats pretty quickly. When she does get done, Wonwoo takes the empty bottle back to the kitchen, but not before burping the baby. He doesn’t ever want a repeat of her vomiting all over him again. 

“So about the clothes thing.” Wonwoo begins, turning back to Mingyu. “I think this is her last onesie.” 

He’s slowly picking up on baby-lingo. Onesie is the thing she’s currently wearing, the thing that buttons at the crotch. Wonwoo has a terrible time getting all of the buttons clasped before Nari quicks at him, so half of the time, he just leaves them open. 

“That’s okay. It’s not that chilly out, she should be fine. Does she have a jacket?” Mingyu replies. Wonwoo sighs. She does  _ not _ have a jacket, she doesn’t have much actually, just the basics. He ends up shaking his head ‘no’, to which Mingyu ‘hms’. 

“Is that bad?” Wonwoo asks. It’s nearly May, he doesn’t know why should would need a jacket, it’s not even cold out. Mingyu just shrugs. 

“I mean...babies get cold easier than we do. You can just wrap a blanket around her for now, though.” Mingyu explains. Wonwoo nods

“So, is there a special store we have to go to? Or can we just go to the department store? I know that’s open right now.” Wonwoo would like to go as soon as possible, because Nari is going to have to take a nap and he doesn’t want to be out with her when she falls asleep. She’s kind of a light sleeper, he’s noticed, and that would be a nightmare. 

“We can just go to the department store.” Mingyu smiles, standing up from the chair. He walks over to the diaper bag. “I can pack this up for you, if you want to put her in the car seat?” 

Wonwoo didn’t even know he had to take the bag, so he just nods, and then walks over to the carrier. He notices a lone pair of socks sitting next to it and decide to put them on Nari, before he lowers her down into the seat. He stops after that, though, because he actually has no idea had to strap her in. It looks kind of complicated, honestly. 

“Okay.” Wonwoo sighs. “I don’t know how to do this.” 

Mingyu is zipping up the diaper bag when he looks up at Wonwoo, grinning. He abandons the bag and comes over to help. Wonwoo lets him take his place, watching intently as Mingyu slides two straps over Nari’s shoulders, then brings another up in between her legs and finally buckles them all together on her stomach. He then slides a strap on the bottom of the car seat, which tightens the buckles. Wonwoo is fascinated. 

“That was complicated as hell.” Wonwoo mutters. Mingyu snorts at him and then goes back to grab the bag. 

“You’ll get the hang of it.”

Wonwoo seriously thinks he won’t, but just nods, before he walks over to the kitchen counter and grabs his phone, wallet, and keys. When he arrives back at the car seat, he contemplates how he’s going to carry it, and eventually settles on grabbing it from the base. Mingyu stops him from doing so, though, before he clicks two buttons on the side of the car seat and tugs the handle up. 

_ So that’s how Jeonghan did it, _ Wonwoo thinks. 

“Like that.” Mingyu snorts again. Wonwoo nods, sheepishly, and then picks the car seat up with his right hand. 

It’s really fucking heavy. He grunts and re grips the handle, trying his best not to jostle Nari. Mingyu watches him, amused. 

“This is...heavier than I thought it was going to be.” Wonwoo explains. Mingyu nods, like he understands. 

“So, my car or yours?” Mingyu asks as they walk to the front door. He opens it for Wonwoo, and then closes it, standing behind the older as he locks it. Once done, Wonwoo turns to face him, thinking on the question. 

He doesn’t have to think long. The thought of having to drive with a baby in his backseat terrifies him. 

“Yours.” he chokes out. “Um, please. I don’t want to drive with her...yet.”  

“Got it.” Mingyu nods, not even questioning it. He then begins walking towards the elevators, so Wonwoo follows behind him, thankful that Mingyu is willing to just go along with everything. 

When they get down to Mingyu’s car, Wonwoo is faced with yet another challenge in the parenting world: strapping the car seat in. Mingyu is not very good at it either, surprisingly, so together they struggle with it for about ten minutes. Eventually they do get it strapped into the middle seat,  _ securely, _ and when Wonwoo stands back up, he has to wipe sweat off of his forehead. It had required a lot of effort. 

“Do uh...do I have to sit back here with her?” Wonwoo asks as Mingyu shuts the back door on his side. Mingyu peers over at him with a raised eyebrow, shaking his head. 

“Not unless you want to.” 

Every time Wonwoo thinks about sitting in the front, leaving Nari by herself in the back, his chest tightens. He’s afraid that they hadn’t gotten the car seat strapped in properly, that if Mingyu has to hit the brakes suddenly Nari will go flying into the side of the car. That terrifies him. He gulps, and shrugs. 

“I’m just going to in case, you know, we didn’t get her strapped in the right way.” 

Mingyu gives him a small smile, and then nods. He tugs the driver’s side door open and climbs into the car, and Wonwoo follows, settling down next to Nari. He buckles himself in and then grips the bottom of the car seat in a tight, bunched fist. 

The drive to the department store really doesn’t take all that long. Nari babbles happily the entire time, grabbing at her feet while Wonwoo watches her intently. He doesn’t miss the times that Mingyu glances back at them through the rearview mirror, though. Each time he smiles back at the younger, causing Mingyu to blush and look back at the road. Wonwoo doesn’t know how to read into it.  

In fact, he doesn’t know how to read into any of this. Or rather, he doesn’t know what to  _ think _ of it. He’s not one to warm up to people easily, but for some reason, he’s entrusted his and Nari’s lives with Mingyu’s driving, and he had hardly even thought about it. He’s also found it incredibly easy to converse with the younger, finding that Mingyu hasn’t been judgemental or accusatory at all. 

It’s an odd situation. Wonwoo doesn’t exactly mind it, though. 

Wonwoo is challenged yet again when Mingyu tells him that they have to get Nari out of the car. He explains that Wonwoo can either unstrap the car seat and carry that around, or he can just carry Nari. Of course, he can put the car seat into the shopping cart, but just the thought of having to strap it back into the car has Wonwoo groaning. So, he begins unstrapping the seatbelts, and picks Nari up, clutching her to the front of his chest as they walk through the parking lot. 

He gets a lot of strange looks from people passing by. After the fourth old lady raises an eyebrow at him, he turns to Mingyu and sighs. 

“Is this not normal?” 

“Most people bring strollers or car seats in? But she’s not their kid, so it doesn't matter.” Mingyu explains. “Plus, we’re two young guys with a baby. That’ll raise eyebrows no matter what.” 

Wonwoo sighs, but accepts the answer. He can’t do anything about what other people think of him at the moment, so he just shifts Nari a little in his arms and continues to follow Mingyu to wherever they’re going. 

Turns out, they’re headed to the clothing section of the store. Mingyu’s picked up a cart on the way there, finding a stray one abandoned in an aisle, and is pushing it towards the girls area. Once there, he stops before an aisle, and turns to Wonwoo. 

“So, I would recommend getting some more onesies, and some stretchy pants, and maybe a couple of outfits to put her in in case you go out with her.” 

Wonwoo nods slowly, and then turns to look at all of his options. He doesn’t know what he would even do with half of the stuff on the racks. And also...it’s a lot of  _ pink. _ He grimaces. 

“What about a jacket?” he asks, looking back at Mingyu. Mingyu nods. 

“That too! Also pajamas, and a sleep sack. And some more socks, because I noticed she only has like two pairs.” 

“What’s a sleep sack?” Wonwoo knows what the other things are, but a sleep sack? What the hell? 

“It’s a thing people put their babies in, instead of covering them in a blanket. There’s been cases of babies suffocating themselves with the blankets in their sleep. A mom at the daycare told me about it once.” Mingyu explains. Wonwoo listens on with wide eyes, horrified. Soonyoung was completely right, Wonwoo  _ is _ lucky that he hasn’t killed Nari yet. He feels like an asshole for not knowing any of this stuff. 

“Okay.” Wonwoo sighs. He looks down at Nari, who’s been content with just looking around the store, her eyes wide. She really is a sweet baby, doesn’t cry much and is hardly ever fussy, unless she’s hungry or has been startled. Wonwoo feels a little blessed. 

“I can hold her, if you want me to?” Mingyu offers, noticing Wonwoo’s delima. Wonwoo had no idea how he was going to be able to browse through the racks with Nari clinging onto him. “It’s cool if you don’t, though.” 

Wonwoo takes a deep breath. He realizes that he’s been a little possessive of Nari, which doesn’t make any sense because Mingyu has been nothing but nice and clearly knows more about children. He glances one more time at Nari and then slowly hands her over to Mingyu, who takes her with a grin plastered across his face. 

Nari goes still in his arms, though, and twists her head so that she can stare at Wonwoo, almost as if asking ‘what are you doing?’. Wonwoo smiles at her, while Mingyu rubs her back. 

“It’s okay, Mingyu is going to hold you while daddy looks for clothes.” 

Immediately Wonwoo registers what he’s said, and shoots his eyes up to look at Mingyu. “I mean, uh…” 

Mingyu just shrugs and turns to look at a rack of dresses that are behind him, pointing at them and explaining the patterns to Nari in a quiet voice. Wonwoo is incredibly grateful for the younger allowing him to have his internal breakdown in peace. He whips around and takes a deep breath, letting the heat in his cheeks simmer down. 

_ Daddy. _ He can’t do that, nope. He may be Nari’s father, but he can’t be her  _ dad. _ That can’t happen, he’s already made his decision, he needs to get all of the stuff he needs quickly and get out of the damn store because everything’s starting to feel  _ domestic. _

He finds the onesies quickly after he calms himself down; they’re hanging on a rack not far from where he’s standing. There are an assortment of colors and Wonwoo’s feels at ease knowing that he doesn’t have to just pick everything in pink. He gets five, one purple one, one yellow one, one light blue one, and two different pink ones, and then takes them over to the cart. Mingyu is still there, now holding Nari up while she sits in the front seat, telling her a story. 

“And that’s why the little boy went to timeout. So, don’t do that to your dad, because I don’t think he’d like for his walls to be covered in dirt.” 

Wonwoo snorts quietly as he sets the onesies down into the cart, causing Mingyu to look up at him and grin. 

“I’m teaching life lessons.” 

“Okay.” Wonwoo chuckles. “Um, I don’t really know where the stretchy pants are.” 

“I think I saw them over by the pajama rack.” Mingyu says. He picks Nari up and holds her with his left arm, while he pushes the cart with his right. “We can check those off of the list at the same time.” 

Wonwoo just follows Mingyu until they come up on the rack, which holds a bunch of baby leggings. They’re in all sorts of patterns and colors and designs and Wonwoo doesn’t care if they don’t match the onesies he picked out, he just grabs the ones he likes best and puts them into the cart. He then turns and focuses his attention on the pajama rack. 

By the time they’re done in the clothing section of the store, there are five onesies in the cart, five pairs of leggings, three pairs of pajamas, a sleep sack, a thin jacket, and a packet of socks. Wonwoo thinks they’re done and is about to ask what’s next when Mingyu stops him. 

“Did you want to get any outfits?” 

“Oh, right.” Wonwoo sighs. He already has a small mountain of clothing piled in the cart, but he doesn’t really want to keep dressing Nari in simple stuff, so he nods. “Yeah, let’s look.” 

Looking involves Mingyu holding up every frilly dress he finds as a joke, which has Wonwoo rolling his eyes each time. Despite the joking, though, Wonwoo does manage to pick out three different outfits. He gets a little romper-looking-thing that has elephants all over it, an overall-and-onesie combination, and a dress with anchors on it. In the end, he’s satisfied with his choices, and Nari squeals when he shows her the overalls, so he assumes he did good. 

Mingyu leads them back to the actual baby section after that, but not before he hands Nari back over to Wonwoo, who takes her enthusiastically. He places a kiss on her forehead and completely misses the smirk Mingyu sends his way. 

They spend a lot of time in the baby section, more than they spent in the clothing section. Mingyu suggests bibs, towels and washcloths, more bottles, wipes, diapers, and formula, all of which Wonwoo gets. He also gets a little bouncy looking seat thing he saw on a shelf, because if he’s being honest, he doesn’t want to hold Nari 24/7. 

Well, right now he does, but he’s sure he’ll find some use for it. 

After Mingyu tells him that baby skin is really sensitive, Wonwoo also throws special laundry detergent, soap, and shampoo into the cart. He doesn’t want to use his  _ Tide _ on Nari’s clothes and make her skin irritated, he’d hate himself. By the end of the haul the entire cart is filled and Wonwoo knows his bank account is going to be drained, but just by having more stuff, he feels better. Like he could actually do this. 

“Anything else?” Wonwoo asks as they’re walking out of one of the aisles, Mingyu still pushing the cart. Nari is nearly asleep on Wonwoo’s shoulder, her head pillowed in the crook of his neck, drooling on his shirt. 

“Not that I can think of.” Mingyu responds. “Unless you want some toys for her, so she’ll stop chewing on her hands and stuff.” 

Wonwoo nods. That would be a good idea, he’s also tired of his shirts always being wet. Mingyu leads them to a different aisle, where there are a ton of baby toys hanging on the shelves. Wonwoo is overwhelmed until Mingyu starts talking again, guiding him through it. 

“She really only would need teethers and rattles and stuff, nothing too complicated.” 

So that’s what Wonwoo gets. One shaker thing, and a pack of two teethers. He also throws in a string of plushie toys that are connected by clips, because he thinks they’re cute. 

They’re about to head to the check out,  _ for real this time, _ but then Wonwoo stops in his tracks and stares at a lone rack standing in front of him. Stuffed in it are a bunch of stuffed animals, all from  _ Disney. _ What really catches his eye, though, is the small stuffed Stitch at the bottom.  _ Lilo & Stitch _ had been one of his favorite movies as a kid, he occasionally still likes to watch it just for the memories. So, without another thought, he reaches forward and pulls the stuffed animal out of the bin and throws it into the cart. 

Mingyu doesn’t say a word. He just smiles, and then pushes the cart to the front of the store. 

They find a register that’s empty and make their way over to it, Mingyu pushing the cart in first while Wonwoo follows behind. Nari is now completely knocked out on his shoulder, snoring quietly right next to his ear. It makes him smile, and he expresses his amusement to Mingyu while the younger boy unloads the shopping cart. Mingyu grins at him and laughs a little. 

When Wonwoo looks back up, the cashier is cooing at them. She’s an older lady and has one hand over her heart, her bottom lip jutted out. 

“Oh, your daughter is so precious.” she says. Wonwoo turns, because the lady is clearly trying to peer at Nari’s face. Her grin widens. “So cute and tiny. She looks like you too, dear.” 

“Thank you.” Wonwoo mumbles, his cheeks heating up. 

“And you two, you make a good pair. What a good looking couple.” 

The smile falls off of his face, and he turns to Mingyu, gaping. Mingyu’s face is bright red. 

“Oh, we’re not, um. He’s just a friend.” Wonwoo explains, stuttering out the words. The lady rolls her eyes, not convinced. 

“Oh, don’t try to fool me. Don’t worry, I support the gays.”  

Wonwoo doesn’t think  _ the gays _ would appreciate being called  _ the gays, _ but nods. Before he can say anything else, the lady continues. 

“A cute little family. Congratulations to you guys, I’m sure you’re great parents.” She leaves it at that and begins scanning their items. Wonwoo peers back down at Mingyu, who’s still bent over, putting things onto the conveyor belt. When he looks up at Wonwoo he shrugs, though his face is still red. Wonwoo sighs. 

It doesn’t take all that long to check them out. The only hiccup in the process is when Wonwoo stands and stares at the total on the screen for a few moments, completely shocked that everything had cost  _ that _ much. 

“You’re expensive, little girl.” he mumbles into Nari’s hair when he’s handed his receipt. He pockets that and his wallet, and then turns to leave with Mingyu, who’s already walking towards the exit of the store. Wonwoo throws one last ‘thank you’ over his shoulder and then follows the younger boy out of the store and towards where the car is parked. 

Mingyu is in charge of packing away all of the new purchases, while Wonwoo is in charge of strapping Nari in as quietly as possible. Which ends up being a success, because she doesn’t wake up, nor does she even squirm in her sleep. Wonwoo, relieved, goes to help Mingyu with the last little bit of bags that need to be put away, and then they both climb into the car and prepare to go back to the apartment. 

Wonwoo sits next to Nari again. He buckles up, and before he clutches the bottom of the car seat, he moves his hand up to brush the hair away that’s plastered to her forehead. He then moves her arm to a more comfortable position, since it’s all bunched up at her side. When he tries to pull away, though, her hand wraps around his pointer finger, clutching it tightly. He grins and opts to settle his hand across her abdomen, letting her hold his finger for the car ride home. 

When he looks back up from the baby, Mingyu is grinning at them from the rearview mirror again. Wonwoo smiles back and Mingyu doesn’t blush this time, his smile just widens and then he starts the car. 

Wonwoo sighs, and peers back at Nari. He doesn’t hate this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't think that Wonwoo would be a weird, possessive, nervous-wreck of a dad, then... so sorry because that's all I'm writing lmao.
> 
> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	4. Chapter 4

_ “Just open it.”  _

_ “I swear, if you tell me to ‘just open it’ one more time, I’ll actually kill you.” Wonwoo grits out. He glares at Minghao and the younger glares back, but eventually he gives up and rolls his eyes. He leans back on the couch and Wonwoo is left to stare down at the envelope in his hands.  _

_ They’ve just checked the mail, for what’s probably the fourteenth time that day. Wonwoo had conveniently forgotten that the mailman doesn’t actually come on the weekends, so they had to wait a couple of days to get the DNA test results back from the company they sent them to. They’re here now, sitting in a sealed envelope on his lap, and so far he’s refused to open them.  _

_ “Why are you so nervous?” Jun asks him. He’s sitting on the other end of the couch with Nari in his lap, his arm wrapped around her middle so that she doesn’t topple over. It had taken him a few days to warm up to the baby girl, but now it’s like they’re best friends. If Wonwoo isn’t holding Nari, Jun is; he won’t ever put her down. Nari seemingly doesn’t mind, though. She enjoys being held. Wonwoo thinks that the reason she cries sometimes is because no one is holding her, and not actually because there’s something wrong.  _

_ “I don’t know.” Wonwoo admits, sighing. “I just am.”  _

_ “You’re pretty sure she’s yours though, right? This was just to confirm that, I thought.”  _

_ Wonwoo nods. Jun is right. Honestly, he’d be more surprised if Nari  _ wasn’t _ his.  _

_ “Well we’re never going to find out unless you open the damn thing.” Minghao mutters, breaking the silence. Wonwoo glares at him again before he picks one of the throw pillows up off of one of the cushions on the couch, chucking it at the boy’s head. Minghao yelps and dives out of the way. Wonwoo gears up to throw another, but then Nari starts cackling, and her laughter brings him back to the task at hand.  _

Right. He has to open the envelop at some point. 

_ He takes one last deep breath and then lifts the corner of the paper, before he tears it open from the side. There are a few papers folded inside, so he fishes them out and then sifts through them, before finding the one with the results on it. He tosses the other papers down onto the coffee table and then proceeds to read through the results page, scanning the lines for the words he needs to see.  _

Confirmed parent. _ It says that in the second paragraph, after whoever wrote the page explained how the DNA test was performed. They then introduced the subjects, Wonwoo and Nari, and then gave the results it sentence-format.  _

_ Confirmed parent. Wonwoo is Nari’s confirmed biological parent. He sighs and tosses the paper onto the coffee table, where it joins the others.  _

_ “What? What does it say?” Jun asks, leaning forward so that he can peer down at the paper. His arm stays wrapped around Nari’s torso, who’s still babbling away to herself.  _

_ “Confirmed parent.” Wonwoo mutters. “It’s official now, I guess.”  _

 

 

Wonwoo thinks that any place that works with  _ children _ should be colorful. And if not that, then at least inviting. The office he’s sitting in now, though, is neither. The walls are a boring beige color and the only window in the room is covered by dark brown drapes. The only pop of color in the office is the potted plant in the corner, but even that looks like it’s dying. 

“Jeon Wonwoo, correct?” the lady behind the desk stationed in front of him asks, her eyebrow raised in question. She had introduced herself as Ms. Lee, and she looks nice enough, but it does nothing to settle Wonwoo’s nerves. 

“Um, yes.” Wonwoo nods. Ms. Lee smiles and then turns to Mingyu. 

“And you are?” 

 

 

**_i scheduled an appointment with the adoption agency for wednesday <_ **

 

_ Wonwoo sends the message and then flops back onto the couch, laying across it horizontally. He kicks his feet up and then holds his phone above his face, awaiting Mingyu’s reply.  _

 

**_> when and where? _ **

 

_ Wonwoo grins. He’s glad he doesn’t have to directly ask Mingyu if he’ll come with him; the younger just simply understands.  _

_ He and Mingyu have been texting more since the younger boy left Friday afternoon. In fact, they text almost all the time, and sometimes Mingyu even facetimes him. It’s solely so that he can say hi to Nari, but Wonwoo will take it. He appreciates the constant communication.  _

_ It’s weird, how he’s kind of thrown himself into this friendship. He’ll ask Mingyu a question, and Mingyu will answer him, and then they’ll start in on a conversation about the television shows they’re watching, or what they’re going to have for dinner, or what Mingyu is doing at work. It’s only been a total of three days, but so far, Wonwoo has relished in the attention.  _

_ He’s never been attracted to men before. It’s solely been girls since day 1, but for some reason, Wonwoo finds himself smiling whenever Mingyu’s name lights up on his phone. He can’t deny that Mingyu is extremely handsome, and he’s come to find out that he’s kind of dumb too (in the sense that he makes terrible jokes), but Wonwoo doesn’t mind it. He kind of likes it even.  _

_ If he’s developing a sort of crush, well, then that would be okay. He won’t pretend it isn’t happening. It’s been a long time since he’s liked anyone, anyways.  _

 

**_It’s a 11:30 but want to just ride over together? i need to get over my fear of driving with nari anyways <_ **

**_> of course :) meet you at your apartment!_ **

 

 

Mingyu grins. “I’m Kim Mingyu.” 

“And your relation to Nari and Wonwoo?”

“Um, friend.” Mingyu replies. He looks hesitant when he answers the question, flashing Wonwoo a nervous smile. Wonwoo shrugs. 

“Unfortunately, Mr. Kim, only family members are allowed in the room while we discuss options. It’s due to security and privacy reasons.” 

Wonwoo gulps and glances back over at the younger. Mingyu is sitting in the chair next to him, with Nari fast asleep on his shoulder. The only reason he’s holding her and Wonwoo isn’t, is because Wonwoo had to fill out paperwork upon their arrival, and couldn’t do so while holding Nari. They hadn’t switched back because jostling her yet  _ again _ seemed cruel. 

Truth is, Wonwoo might actually throw up if Mingyu isn’t in the room with him. He’ll never admit it, but he didn’t want Mingyu here just to help out with Nari. He’s gotten pretty good at caring for her himself. No, he needs Mingyu for support, because something about the guy just...calms him. If Ms. Lee makes Mingyu leave, Wonwoo is fairly positive he’ll riot. 

“Well you see, Ms. Lee-” Mingyu begins, and Wonwoo holds his breath, anxious, “-Wonwoo is actually my fiance. We just...didn’t know how well that news would be received, so we didn’t mention it before.” 

Wonwoo would  _ like _ to have resumed breathing, but unfortunately that doesn’t happen. Instead, he chokes, and Mingyu has to whack him on his back to get him to breath again. Ms. Lee stares at the both of them, one eyebrow raised. 

“Is that so?” 

“Yes.” Wonwoo mutters. He silently thanks Mingyu for being quick on his feet and coming up with an excuse, even though his face is red hot and probably the color of the tee shirt Minghao had walked out of the apartment wearing this morning. It was  _ bright. _

Ms. Lee smiles. “Well, no worries then. We work with all kinds of families here!” 

Wonwoo flashes her a grateful smile. He’s positive she doesn’t buy any of it, but she can’t kick them out now, so he relaxes. Mingyu can stay. He feels better already. 

“Well in that case, boys, what exactly can I help you with today?” 

Wonwoo takes a deep breath, preparing to recite the speech he had so carefully practiced over and over again in his head since he made the appointment. 

“I just recently found out that Nari is my daughter. Her mother dropped her off at my apartment a few days ago in the middle of the night, leaving her with just a diaper bag, some money, and her legal documents.” 

“I took a DNA test already and confirmed that she’s actually mine. Unfortunately, though, I can’t keep her, so I’d like to give her up for adoption.” 

“Oh my.” Ms. Lee nods and types the information Wonwoo has just given her into her computer. “Are you sure adoption is the right option for you?” 

 

 

_ “I just...I guess I don’t understand, okay? So I’m sorry if I come off a little strong. It’s just, you can tell she already loves you a lot, and you have the support of all of us and I’m sure your parents would be understanding, so why aren’t you keeping her?”  _

_ Wonwoo groans. He buries his face in his hands as Soonyoung awaits his reply, sitting in the chair across from him at the kitchen table. Chan is in the living room occupying Nari, while his boyfriend tries his best to convince Wonwoo to keep the baby. So far, he’s only been successful in stressing Wonwoo out even more.  _

_ “You know why.” Wonwoo mumbles. He lifts his head and glares at his friend, who glares right back at him. “Soonyoung, there’s absolutely no way I could do it. I don’t have the financial support, I’m still in school, hell, my parents still send me an allowance every month to keep me alive. I can’t raise a child.” _

_ “You could if you tried.”  _

_ Wonwoo sighs. It’s not as if he’s never thought about it. Keeping Nari, that is. When Nari is asleep for the night, and Wonwoo finally has a little bit of time to himself to actually think. He wonders what it would be like to raise Nari, to watch her grow into the person she’s supposed to be.  _

_ Would he be a soccer dad? A dance dad? Would Nari be able to sing, would she be gifted academically? Would she be tall? Hyunmi had been pretty short, but he’s tall himself, so maybe Nari would grow up to be an average height.  _

_ He’s thought about telling his parents about Nari. His mom would probably cry, ecstatic that she finally has someone to do girl-stuff with. His dad would probably cry too, out of sheer happiness. His brother would undoubtedly make fun of him, but he thinks the younger would learn to love the baby girl. It had only taken Wonwoo a couple of days.  _

_ He knows all of his friends would support him. Jeonghan had dropped by with Joshua the night before, and Joshua had nearly taken Nari home with him, claiming that she was just ‘too cute’. Soonyoung clearly loves her, and if Chan never wanting to put Nari down is anything to go by, the youngest boy does too. Jun is obsessed with her. Minghao likes her. The only two people that don’t know about Nari yet are Seungcheol and Jihoon, but Wonwoo thinks that after a while, they’d come around too.  _

_ He can’t do it, though. He can’t keep Nari. He’s not so much worried about himself; he’s more worried that he’ll somehow fuck Nari’s entire life up. She deserves a stable, loving family that can provide for her, not some college kid that didn’t even know how to change a diaper before Soonyoung taught him.  _

_ “I can’t, Soonyoung.”  _

_ “I think you can, and I think you know you can, you’re just scared. It’s your decision, though. I just think you’re making the wrong one.”  _

 

 

“Yes.” Wonwoo gulps. He glances over at Mingyu but the younger won’t meet his eye, instead occupying himself with shifting Nari’s overalls. They’re all twisted around her body. 

“You’ve already taken a DNA test, so you make my job easier.” Ms. Lee types something else into her computer. “Are you wanting to put her into foster care until we find her a family?” 

“No.” both Wonwoo and Mingyu say at the same time. Wonwoo peers at Mingyu and finds him blushing slightly. He smiles at him. 

“That’s fine.” Ms. Lee chuckles. “We can find potential families for her and then just contact you. That actually makes my job a little easier.” 

Wonwoo honestly doesn’t care if it makes anyone's job easier, or harder, or what; he’d never put Nari into the foster care system. He’s glad Mingu backs him on that one. 

“Are you wanting to pick the family?” 

“I just…” Wonwoo begins, sighing. “Honestly, I just want her to go to a happy, safe, loving family.” 

He wants to be as least involved as possible in the process. He figures that that would make the entire thing easier to swallow. Ms. Lee smiles at him and then nods like she understands. Wonwoo wonders if she does. 

He chances a look at Nari. She’s still passed out, her little head pillowed in between Mingyu’s shoulder and neck. Her face is smushed into his tee shirt and she’s drooling a little. There are cloth marks on her cheeks, and her face is flushed red.  _ She’s probably hot, _ Wonwoo thinks. He makes a mental note to free her of the overalls before he straps her back into the car seat. 

 

 

_ “Oh, you’re going to drive me craaazzzzyyyy.” Wonwoo sing-songs, flitting around the kitchen as he makes a bottle. It’s 3:32 in the morning and Nari is situated on his hip, tears dried onto her face as she chews on his sleep shirt. She’s been good about sleeping during the night lately, but tonight, for some reason, has been different. Wonwoo has barely gotten 45 minutes of sleep.  _

_ He moves Nari into a cradle position and then holds the bottle up to her lips, but when she doesn’t take it, he groans. She bats the bottle away and squirms in his arms until he holds her upright again.  _

_ “I already changed your diaper.” he mutters, setting the full bottle down onto the countertop. “What else could you want?”  _

_ Apparently, though, all she wants is Wonwoo, because she seems content just staring up at him. He sighs and makes his way over to the couch, where he plops down with Nari still in his arms. He drapes a blanket over the both and leans back, letting Nari settle into the crock of his arms.  _

_ Another night of sleeping on the hard cushions, the couch is becoming his best friend. _

_ “Alright, go night night so I can sleep.” he pleads quietly, before placing a kiss on the top of Nari’s head. She gurgles out something and then lays her head down on his stomach, her bunched up fist still in her mouth. He decides to let it be.  _

_ She doesn’t fall asleep immediately. She continues to babble, wearing herself out as her mind continues to race. Wonwoo listens on like they’re actually having a conversation, intrigued. Baby talk is interesting.  _

_ In the end, she falls asleep pillowed against Wonwoo’s chest, because she won’t stop squirming in his lap. She holds onto his pointer finger as she drifts off, her hand wrapped around it in a death grip. He smiles down at her.  _

 

 

“No worries!” Ms. Lee replies, waving Wonwoo off. “We’ll find a perfect permanent family for her!” 

Those words are supposed to be reassuring, but all they do is make Wonwoo feel queasy. His chest tightens and he has to suck in a deep breath to keep himself from crying. He can feel the tears pricking the corner of his eyes. It’s an emotional time, and he hopes no one will judge him for it. 

“Now, were you wanting to do an open or closed adoption?” 

“A what?” Wonwoo asks, sobering up a bit. He leans forward, curious as to what those options are. He never found anything mentioning either of the words on google. 

“They’re the two types of adoption. An open adoption means that you may be able to set up visitation rights with her new family, and they’d be willing to send you pictures of her, things like that. Closed means that once she’s adopted, all ties will be cut. You won’t be allowed to see her.” 

Wonwoo doesn’t mean to, but he stops breathing. He hadn’t ever considered what would happen after Nari was adopted. He just knew that he wouldn’t be responsible for taking care of her anymore. It’s such a foreign concept to him that the mere thought of never seeing Nari again after this is all done has him nearly hyperventilating. 

“Does that sound like something you’re willing to comply with?” 

“Um.” Wonwoo swallows. “Um. I don’t know. I, uh…”

“Don’t work yourself up over it. You can think on it, and let me know when the time comes.” Ms. Lee waves him off and continues on with their discussion. “For right now, I can just set a profile up for her and then get started on contacting families.” 

Wonwoo spends the next thirty minutes or so answering questions about Nari. He tells Ms. Lee everything he knows, adding in bits and pieces he’s learned about the baby girl since he’s had her. He even emails her a picture of Nari that Jun had taken on his phone, so that her profile can have a visual aspect. By the time they’re done Wonwoo is exhausted mentally, and he’s happy when Ms. Lee wraps things up. 

“It was a pleasure to meet you.” Ms. Lee stands up from her desk and reaches a hand out, which Wonwoo takes and shakes quickly. Mingyu does the same, after he shifts Nari onto his other shoulder. “I’ll be in touch with you shortly.” 

“Thank you.” Wonwoo mumbles, but for some reason, he doesn’t feel very thankful at all. He has to physically drag himself out of the little office without saying anything else besides a quick ‘goodbye’. Mingyu follows after him, silent as he holds Nari close. 

 

 

_ “I can get her.”  _

_ “Are you sure?” Wonwoo asks. Mingyu nods and then climbs out of the car. He throws the back door open and goes to unbuckle Nari, who’s still asleep in her car seat. Wonwoo sighs and grabs the fast food bags that are next to his feet. He gets both of their drinks and then gets out of the car as well.  _

_ They’ll have to come back for all the bags from the store. Neither of them have any free hands to grab them.  _

_ Mingyu trails behind Wonwoo as they climb the stairs to get to Wonwoo’s floor. Once there, Wonwoo unlocks his apartment door, and then walks over to the kitchen table so that he can set their food down. Mingyu kicks the front door closed behind him but then stops in the middle of the living room, looking to Wonwoo for help.  _

_ Wonwoo stares at him for a few seconds, his brain short-circuiting. Mingyu is standing there, holding Nari to his chest, looking at Wonwoo with questioning eyes. He looks...good. Wonwoo has had ample time throughout the day to admire the younger, but that still doesn’t stop him from staring. The fact that Mingyu is holding Nari with all of the care in the world makes it worse.  _

_ He snaps himself out of it at once. He walks forward and takes Nari from Mingyu, quietly, and then stalks towards his room.  _

_ “Be right back.” he mumbles. Mingyu doesn’t reply.  _

 

 

They make their way back out to the parking lot. Wonwoo drove, so he leads the way, but he can feel himself shaking the entire time they’re walking. He hates the feeling and honestly just wants to go home and curl up with Nari and forget everything that’s just happened. He can’t do that, though, so he tries to straighten up and calm himself. 

It doesn’t work. He’s still a nervous wreck when they reach his car, and Mingyu notices, raising a questioning eyebrow in Wonwoo’s direction. Wonwoo doesn’t quite meet his eyes. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yes.” Wonwoo replies, and then, after a beat- “No.” 

Mingyu sighs. He doesn’t say anything, thankfully, and instead takes Wonwoo’s keys from his trembling hands. He unlocks the car and then proceeds to strap Nari, who’s still passed out on his shoulder and who hasn’t moved an inch, into her car seat, before he turns the car on and cranks the air conditioning. He rolls one of the back windows down so that they’ll be able to hear Nari if she wakes up, and then walks around to the back of the car and stands in front of Wonwoo. 

“What are you thinking?” 

“I don’t know.” Wonwoo admits. He’s still shaking, and he feels lightheaded. 

“Did she say something that upset you? I’m not going to lie, I blanked out halfway through.” Mingyu admits. He looks sheepish and Wonwoo can only shake his head ‘no’ as a response. The younger sighs. Without hesitating, he reaches forward and pulls Wonwoo into a bone-crushing hug. 

Wonwoo figures that Mingyu has an idea as to what’s going on. He’s intuitive like that, always picking up on things without Wonwoo having to say anything. He feels like he owes him an explanation, though, so he takes a deep breath and opens his mouth to speak. 

No words come out, though. Instead, he begins to cry, hot, fat tears rolling down his cheeks in a stream. Mingyu pulls him even closer and pets at his hair, shushing him. 

“Wonwoo, tell me what’s going on up there.” Mingyu taps at Wonwoo’s head and Wonwoo sniffles, pulling back a bit so that he can look up at the younger. He’s still crying, but his tears haven’t prevented him from being able to speak yet. 

“She...she said I’d never see her again.” he chokes out. Mingyu sighs, his face falling as he nods sympathetically. Wonwoo wipes the trail of tears from his cheeks. 

“I can’t...she...her new family isn’t going to know that she likes sleeping on someone’s chest, and they probably won’t take her Stitch, and they’re going to change her last name and oh God, what if it’s Lee? Nari Lee sounds so weird, Mingyu.” 

A new stream of tears begins to fall and Mingyu bites back a smile as he reaches forward and wipes them from Wonwoo’s face, before they can reach his shirt. Wonwoo sucks in deep breaths and tries to calm himself down yet again. 

He doesn’t need Mingyu to say it, because Wonwoo already knows the younger wants him to keep Nari. He knows this because of Mingyu’s actions, the way he acts any time Wonwoo talks about the adoption at all. Mingyu goes quiet and seems to pull Nari closer, almost in a protective manner, like he can’t bare to see her go. Wonwoo never understood it, especially since Mingyu barely even knows them, but he thinks he gets it now. 

He can’t give Nari up. He can’t hand her off to some random couple and call it a day, go back to school and then act like nothing happened. He can’t just forget about her, pretend she never existed and then continue to live his life. He can’t do that to her, and quite frankly, he can’t do that to himself. For some reason he was chosen to be Nari’s father, and if it takes everything within him, well, he’s going to be the best damn dad he can be. 

He wants to be a soccer dad, or a dance dad, or a whatever dad. He wants to watch her grow up, he wants to learn how to braid her hair and paint her tiny fingernails. He wants all of this and more. In reality it hasn’t taken him that long to come to this conclusion, but it’s caused him a lot of mental stress and inner turmoil. But he can do this. He can do this.  _ He can do this. _

“'M gonna fuck it up so badly, Mingyu.” Wonwoo chokes out. Mingyu chuckles, quietly, and pulls him back into his chest as fresh tears begin to fall again. 

“No you won’t.” he replies. “You’re going to do your best, and it’s going to be fine. Plus, you have me, and all of your other friends to help you out.” 

“I don’t know anything about girls.” 

“Well, you’ll learn. But you’ve done amazing so far, and I’ve only known you for less than a week.” 

Wonwoo snorts at that. It’s true that Mingyu hasn’t even known him for a week, but here he is, holding him in a parking lot as he sobs into his chest. It’s something out of the movies, Wonwoo thinks, but he doesn’t regret it one bit. He’s so incredibly thankful for the younger boy, he’s really not sure what he’d do without him. 

“She’s going to end up hating me.” 

“Every kid hates their parents a little bit.” Mingyu tries to joke, but when Wonwoo just sobs again, he quickly backtracks. “She won’t hate you, Wonwoo. She’ll love you, she already does. She smiles at you and looks at you like you hold the entire world in your hands.” 

“And I’ll be here to help you out, I promise. 24/7. You can call me whenever, I’ll even risk losing my job to help you out.” 

“You love your job.” Wonwoo mutters. He’s clutching onto the front of Mingyu’s tee shirt, still mumbling into his chest. 

“But I want the best for Nari more than I love my job, so, you’ve got my word. I’m here for you guys.” 

“You just met us.” Wonwoo is hiccuping now, even as the tears keep falling. He would normally be embarrassed, but he isn’t, not really. Mingyu isn’t the type to judge him for it, anyways. 

“And? I want to get to know you guys better, and that’s what matters.” 

Wonwoo stays silent for a few moments, only nodding in response. Mingyu pets at his hair in a soothing way, calming him down better than anything he could have tried himself. It works and when he finally feels like he’s going to be okay, he pulls away from the younger and wipes at his eyes. 

“‘M gonna call you all the time.” 

“Okay.” 

“And you might have to stay over sometimes if it gets bad because I’ll freak out.”

“Deal.” 

“Soonyoung is good with kids for a little while but he doesn’t know a lot so you’re my go-to person.” 

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” Mingyu grins, his canines showing while he nods in agreement. Wonwoo sighs.

He can do this.

He glances over at his car and peers at Nari through the opened window. She’s awake now, happily sitting in her car seat while she babbles to herself and pulls at her toes. The sight makes him incredibly happy, especially now that he knows he gets to keep  _ this. _ This being Nari, and the joy that comes with just simply watching her. He hadn’t really realized how precious and special she actually was until the threat of having her taken away was there.

He would say that it was just a matter of reassuring himself that he could actually do it, but that wouldn’t be right. He’s still not sure that he can  _ do it. _ He’s terrified and already anxious, but even so, he feels slightly better. Especially knowing that he has Mingyu’s full support. 

He can do this. He can be a good father to Nari, can offer the most he can while doing his absolute best. He can raise her and be a soccer dad or a dance dad or a whatever dad, he can do piggytails, he can feed her and bathe her and dress her and provide for her. He can do this.  _ He can do this. _

He steps away from Mingyu with a sigh and then without saying another word, starts walking back to the adoption building. Mingyu doesn’t ask where he’s going, just let’s him be. Wonwoo makes it all the way there without crying again and once he’s inside, he stalks up to the front desk and addresses the secretary sitting there.

He takes a deep breath. 

“Hello, um. How do I legally get full custody of my daughter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	5. Chapter 5

“I can’t.” 

Silence. Wonwoo sighs. 

“Seungcheol. I can’t come.” 

“You already said that.” 

“Yeah, so...can I go? I have things to do.” 

Wonwoo peers over at Nari, who’s sprawled out on a blanket in the middle of the living room. She’s chewing on her Stitch plushie while she babbles away at no one, staring up at the ceiling happily. Mingyu has just left for work, leaving Wonwoo to occupy himself while he takes care of Nari for the rest of the day. 

It’s been unofficially decided that Mingyu will come over every day after his classes are done and hang out with Wonwoo and Nari until he has to leave for work. Or at least, that’s what he’s been doing this entire week. Wonwoo hasn’t complained. It gets lonely when it’s just him and Nari, and he appreciates the younger’s company. Especially now that he isn’t really going to classes, and has nothing else to do. 

“You have to come, you never miss happy hour.” 

Wonwoo groans. He walks over to the couch and plops himself down in the center of it. Nari squeals when she sees him, and he grins, bending down to pick her up and place her in his lap. 

“What was that?” 

“Uh, nothing.” Wonwoo clears his throat. “I know I usually come, but I really can’t tonight.” 

“No, not ‘usually’. You’re always there. Did something happen?” 

Wonwoo sighs again. Seungcheol sounds worried now, which is  _ not _ what Wonwoo wanted at all. Knowing Seungcheol, he’ll probably show up at his front door in thirty minutes with a care kit and a worried expression written across his face. 

“I’m fine, I just have a previous commitment and can’t make it.” Nari squeals again and Wonwoo bites his lip, hoping that Seungcheol hasn’t heard her.

It’s not that he doesn’t  _ want _ to tell Seungcheol. It’s just, well...he doesn’t know how the older will react. He’ll admit that he’s nervous. Despite popular belief, Seungcheol and Jihoon are his two most judgemental friends, and they’re the only two who haven’t met Nari yet, so...

“What’s that noise?” Seungcheol asks, but doesn’t give Wonwoo a chance to reply before he continues. “But I mean, what’s so important that you have to miss our  _ last _ happy hour?” 

And okay, Wonwoo had honestly forgotten that this was the  _ last _ happy hour. Finals week is next week, and Wonwoo has already emailed all of his professors, asking to take his early, so he’s basically written everything else off. He doesn’t even really need to study, because even if he fails all of his exams, he’ll still have passing grades. His focus has mainly been on Nari, and all that’s going on with her, so he hasn’t kept up with much else. Including their friend group’s planned monthly happy hour. 

“Just...something came up.” Wonwoo tries. “I’ll make it up to you, okay? We can do something later.” 

“I’m  _ graduating, _ Wonwoo. There’s not a lot of time left.” Seungcheol sounds so sad and Wonwoo bites his lip out of habit, feeling bad that he can’t offer his friend a better excuse. He could always bring Nari, but…

“If...if we uh, don’t go to a bar, I could probably come.” he spits out.  _ Fuck it, _ he thinks.  _ Might as well. _

“Why? Are you giving up drinking?” 

“No.” Wonwoo snorts in the phone. He’s a college student, drinking is the only reason he gets through tough times. “But if we did something like dinner, preferably sooner and not later, I could come.” 

Bringing Nari to a restaurant wouldn’t be so bad. He’s never done it, but he’s gotten pretty good at being a  _ dad, _ or whatever, so he doesn’t think it’ll be too hard. The most difficult part would be trying to explain to Seungcheol and Jihoon  _ why _ Nari is there. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Seungcheol asks. He still sounds concerned, and Wonwoo rolls his eyes, even though the older can’t see him. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.” Wonwoo huffs out. He switches Nari from his left thigh to his right and tucks her into his side. 

“Whatever you say…” Seungcheol doesn’t sound convinced. “But I guess dinner would work. What time? And where?” 

“How about that meat place down the street from campus? And like...six?” 

“What college student eats at six?” Seungcheol wonders out loud, sounding genuinely confused. He, again, doesn’t give Wonwoo a chance to reply before he continues. “But whatever, I guess that works. You’re not going to force the rest of us not to drink, are you?” 

“No.” Jun would probably kill Wonwoo if he implemented that rule, because the older had an early final this morning and has been stressing out over it the entire week. He’s been looking forward to this night since Monday, and it would be cruel of Wonwoo to take his entire opportunity to get drunk as hell away from him. “You can still drink.” 

“Great, because I need it.” Seungcheol sighs. “Well, I guess I’ll see you at six. I’ll let Jihoon, Soonyoung, Jeonghan, and Joshua know.” 

“Sounds good.” Wonwoo cracks a smile before he looks back down at Nari, who’s already grinning up at him, her happy-go-lucky personality shining through. “We’ll see you at six!” 

Before Seungcheol can ask who ‘we’ is, Wonwoo hangs up, and tosses his phone to the other side of the couch. He then leans back and lays down on the couch horizontally, setting Nari down onto his chest before holding her up by her waist. She cackles and chucks her Stitch away in favor off pulling on the front of Wonwoo’s tee shirt. 

“Want to go meet Seungcheol and Jihoon tonight?” Wonwoo asks her, as if he’s expecting a reply. She just continues to pull on his shirt until it’s in her mouth, because that’s what she does, chews on everything. He smirks. 

She’s already gotten pretty familiar with Jun, as well as Soonyoung, and at least she’s seen Jeonghan and Joshua’s faces before, so tonight shouldn’t be too over stimulating for her. Wonwoo doesn’t know what the limit for these kinds of things is, but if he’s going to be doing this parenting thing for, well, forever, they’ve got to start somewhere. 

He sits on the couch like that for awhile, just staring up at Nari while she continues to chew on his shirt. Almost all of his shirts have been chewed on by now, but he doesn’t mind it. In fact, pretty much everything he owns has been tainted by either Nari’s spit, or just her smell. The entire apartment smells like baby. All of the towels smell like Nari’s baby detergent, and his skin constantly smells like the lotion Soonyoung had brought over for her the other day. 

In addition, Wonwoo has found that he really doesn't even  _ think _ about anything else besides Nari. Him forgetting about happy hour wasn’t an exaggeration. After working out that he could take his finals early, this weekend specifically, a thought that doesn’t include Nari hasn’t even crossed his mind. He’s used to just worrying about himself, and by extension Jun and sometimes Minghao, but now he has an entire human being to care for who relies on him solely and it’s just...weird? It’s weird and he’s slowly getting used to it, but it doesn’t make the situation any easier. 

“How about we try to take a bath before we go?” Wonwoo asks Nari as he sits up, bringing her with him while he stands from the couch. 

And that’s another thing that’s _weird._ _Bathing_ Nari. Mingyu had to show him how to do it the first time, but Wonwoo’s been on his own since and, well...he still isn’t sure he’s doing it right, but Nari isn’t gross and she smells decent, so he thinks he might be. 

Nari seems okay with the idea of a bath, though (or at least Wonwoo thinks that’s what it is; he still isn’t caught up with the mental development of babies, so he has no clue with Nari is thinking most of the time), so he heads back to his room to get all of the stuff that he needs to clean her. Which includes a towel, and her shampoo and soap, and then he heads back out into the kitchen. 

Mingyu had told him that since Nari can’t sit up on her own yet, it wasn’t a good idea to bathe her in the tub. It was too big, and it would be harder to hold onto her. Which is why Wonwoo, after he undresses her, sets her down in the sink. He supports her with his hand behind her back and then begins to fill up the ‘tub cup’ with warm water, which he then uses to pour all over her body. He’s thankfully he has a happy baby, because he’s not really sure how he’d deal with a screaming child during things like this. Nari just squeals and flaps her arms about in the sink. 

The first thing he does is wash her hair, because despite being generally happy, she really doesn’t like when he massages the shampoo into her hair. He has to do it, though, since she has so much hair for being only four months old, so that’s what he starts with. The first rinse goes smoothly and she only starts getting fussy when he squirts the shampoo into his hand. 

“I know you don’t like it, but we have to.” he mumbles, slowly running his fingers through her hair. She squirms around in the sink but ultimately calms down when he stars rubbing her back at the same time. Then she just goes pliant and stares at the steady stream of water coming from the faucet in the other side of the sink. Wonwoo cracks a smile before he starts to wash the suds out of her hair. He’s halfway done with the front door opens and a crash sounds throughout the apartment. 

He whips around to find Jun, who’s just thrown his backpack down onto the ground, and Minghao, who looks half-annoyed while he stares down at his phone. 

“Hey!” Jun greets as he walks over to where Wonwoo and Nari are. He bends down and places a kiss on Nari’s forehead, despite her smacking the side of his head with her wet hands. He stands back up and grins at Wonwoo. 

If he and Jun were together, Wonwoo thinks that he would be the providing-father, and Jun would be the loving-stay-at-home-dad. Jun skipped two of his classes this week just so that he could stay at home and play with Nari all day. 

“Are you guys going somewhere?” Jun asks. He walks over to the fridge and pulls out a soda. Wonwoo nods and then pours another cup of warm water over Nari, that way she won’t get cold.

“Uh, happy hour.” 

“You’re taking her to a bar?” Minghao pipes up from where he’s stationed himself at the kitchen table. He already has his laptop out, typing away at something. Wonwoo briefly wonders if he ever stops studying, and then turns back to Nari, before he squeezes some soap out onto a washcloth and starts washing her body. 

“No. Actually, we’re going to that meat place everyone likes. I talked to Seungcheol about it.” 

“Is that why Soonyoung was complaining in the group chat?” Jun asks. He’s now leaning up against the countertop next to Wonwoo, grinning down at Nari. Nari cackles and accidentally splashes some water on him, too excited to contain herself.  _ Uncle Jun _ is definitely her favorite, aside from Wonwoo, and Wonwoo doesn’t know how to feel about it. 

“I suppose so.” Wonwoo hasn’t checked the group chat since talking to Seungcheol. “We’re going at six.” 

“Did you tell him about Nari?” Jun pushes himself off of the countertop, draining his  _ entire can of soda _ before tossing it into the recycling bin. Wonwoo shrugs.

“No.” 

“Well tonight should be fun.” Jun grins one last time down at Nari and then starts heading towards his room, patting Minghao’s cheek on the way. “Guess I’ll go shower, since we have to leave in thirty minutes.” 

Wonwoo honestly didn’t realize how close they were to pushing the time. He sighs and focuses his attention back on Nari. She’s shivering a little and Wonwoo immediately feels bad, continuing to rinse her off while trying to warm her up with his hands. Once all of the suds are off of her he wraps her up in a towel and clutches her to his chest, wiping the water off of her face with his thumbs. He turns around and finds Minghao staring them. 

“What?”

“Nothing.” Minghao says quickly, his cheeks tinted pink as he drops his head back down to his laptop. Wonwoo grins but leaves it be, before he heads back to his room. 

Minghao has yet to admit it, but he’s fond of Nari, if only a little. 

When Wonwoo arrives at his room he gets to work on dressing Nari, finding her clothes to wear to dinner. He still doesn’t have very much for her, so he just grabs the romper that has the elephants on it, and then tosses it onto his bed. He gathers everything else he needs and then lays Nari down on his bed. 

Mingyu had very carefully detailed out everything that Wonwoo should do after giving Nari a bath. This included putting a diaper on her, putting lotion on her, dressing her, and then putting socks on her. Wonwoo does all of this, as quickly as he can so that Nari won’t freeze, and then sweeps his fingers through her hair. It’s long for how old she is, but not long enough to where it’s in her face, so he doesn’t bother on  _ fixing it _ or anything. When he’s done he scoots her to the middle of his bed. 

He’ll admit that he’s a pretty paranoid person, especially when it comes to Nari. It wasn’t so bad before, but now that he has this tiny person to look after, it’s like everything he does he questions. Which means that when he scoots Nari to the middle of his bed, he places about a billion pillows around her, and doesn’t stray too far from the bed for more than ten or so seconds. 

It makes getting himself dressed take twice as long, but in the end he’s content, because Nari doesn’t fall off of the damn bed. 

“Ready to ~go~.” Wonwoo sing-songs when he picks Nari back up. She squeals and grabs onto his ear, tugging lightly. Wonwoo hardly registers the tugs anymore; Mingyu had called them  _ love tugs. _ He thinks that’s probably what they actually are.

He carries her back out into the living room then, walking over to Minghao before thrusting her in his face. Startled, Minghao leans back, but eventually takes her with caution. He holds her out in his arms though, clearly uncomfortable. 

“Um.” 

“Hold her for a second while I pack the diaper bag.” Wonwoo instructs. Despite Minghao being obviously fond over the baby, he’s still awkward as hell around her. Wonwoo disregards this, though, and turns to start packing things up into the bag without saying anything else. 

When he glances back over his shoulder, Minghao has set Nari on his lap, but is still staring at her with wide eyes. Wonwoo smirks and throws a discarded toy into the bag. 

Once that’s done he gathers his keys and wallet together, before he walks back over and picks Nari up again. Minghao sighs when she’s off of his lap and visibly relaxes, causing Wonwoo to snort. 

“She won’t bite.” 

“Yeah but she might fall off of my lap or something.” 

Wonwoo can sympathize with this, so he just chuckles. 

They have about five minutes before they need to leave to make it to the restaurant on time. Wonwoo is on his way to bang on Jun’s door to let him know when Jun throws the door open and startles the both of them into stopping. 

“I was coming to get you.” Wonwoo explains, calming himself down. Nari only squeals. Jun, who just grins, reaches for the baby. Wonwoo hands her over easily and then turns around to head back into the living room. 

“I can still call Chan and tell him to come over if you want.” Jun says from behind Wonwoo, addressing Minghao once the younger is in view. Minghao, who doesn’t even look away from his laptop, rolls his eyes. 

“I don’t need a babysitter.” 

“Yeah, I know, but that way you both won’t be alone.” 

Minghao has never expressed any discomfort with being left by himself on nights that Jun and Wonwoo both go out. He and Jun are normally attached at the hip, but to Wonwoo, it seems like  _ Jun _ is the one who actually has attachment issues. He quietly snorts, so that Minghao won’t hear him, and then slings the diaper bag over his shoulder. 

“I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay. But if you want me to-” 

“I’ll be okay, Jun.” Minghao sighs, but it’s a fond sigh, without any heat behind it. Jun nods and then leans down and kisses Minghao, before straightening back up and walking over to the front door. Minghao flushes and quite frankly, Wonwoo is tired of how  _ disgusting _ they are.

After he, himself, throws a quick goodbye to Minghao and grabs his things, they make their way out of the apartment and head down to where Wonwoo is parked. He has to drive because he has the car seat, but he would’ve offered anyways, since Jun will probably be drinking.  

Jun still doesn’t know how to strap Nari in, so he hands her off to Wonwoo once they make it to the car, and goes to turn the car and AC on instead. Wonwoo hasn’t perfected buckling Nari in yet himself, but he’s gotten a lot better at it, so it doesn’t take him five minutes. He remembers to tighten the straps the easy way (“With your hand in between her and the strap, Wonwoo, that way you won’t pinch her.” Mingyu had explained) and gives her leg a pat before he shuts the door behind himself. It’s a night for firsts so he doesn’t even make Jun sit in the back with her, like he had with Mingyu when they went to the adoption agency. 

The restaurant is only a few minutes away from the apartment, so it doesn’t take Wonwoo long at all to get there. They arrive about five minutes early, but knowing Seungcheol, he’s already inside eating an appetizer. He’s always exceptionally early and Wonwoo doesn’t want to keep anyone waiting, so he finds a parking spot as quick as possible before getting Nari out and heading towards the door. Jun grabs the diaper bag and the three of them head into the little building with three minutes left to spare. 

Wonwoo doesn’t even have to speak to the hostess when they get through the door, because someone screams his name from the side as soon as his front foot is through the threshold. He turns and finds Soonyoung waving at them, Jihoon on his right staring down at his phone while Seungcheol, at the head of the table, reads a menu, and Jeonghan and Joshua talk to each other from across the table. 

Apparently, they’re the last ones to arrive. 

Wonwoo takes a deep breath and then smiles at the hostess, before he heads over to the table. Jun follows and pats him on the back, probably in a supportive way, and Wonwoo appreciates it. 

When they get to the table everyone looks up at them at once. Soonyoung squeals,  _ literally, _ and immediately grabs Nari out of Wonwoo’s hands. Jeonghan leans over and starts cooing at her, while Joshua grins and pokes her cheek. 

Wonwoo hardly notices any of this, though. Instead, he stares straight at Seungcheol, who stares right back. He chances one look at Jihoon and finds the younger boy with his mouth wide open, gaping at Nari. 

“Hey.” Wonwoo mumbles. He sits down next to Soonyoung, and Jun sits down on his other side, at the opposite end of the table from Seungcheol. Seungcheol slowly sets his menu down and then folds his hands together in the most dramatic way. 

“Good evening.” 

“Let’s not.” Wonwoo groans. Seungcheol is kind of like his father, in the way that he basically made sure he was  _ living _ all throughout college, so right now he kind of feels like a teenager who’s parent has just seen their bad report card and is wanting to discuss it over a meal. It’s intimidating, so to make it better, he turns to address Jihoon. 

He’s expecting to find him still gaping, or looking uncomfortable, but instead he finds... _ something. _ Jihoon is laughing at Nari, quietly albeit, but he’s still laughing, his smile wide as he  _ makes funny faces _ at the baby. Nari is screaming practically, like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever seen, and everyone that’s not Jihoon, Seungcheol, and Wonwoo is staring at the two of them with wide eyes. 

“Is he okay?” Jun whispers to Wonwoo, and Wonwoo shrugs, because he’s not even really sure if that’s the real Jihoon. Jihoon can be a fluffball (you should see him around  _ kittens) _ but this is...this is something different, and Wonwoo is speechless. Apparently everyone else is as well because it takes longer than it should for someone to speak up. 

“What are you doing?” Soonyoung finally asks, still bouncing Nari on his leg. Jihoon looks up and it’s as if he’s just realized what he’s doing himself, because he flushes and then turns a dark red, his eyes diverting to the floor. 

“Um.”

“You went...soft for a second.” Soonyoung teases him. Jihoon tries to glare up at him but fails, his red face preventing him from looking ‘scary’, or whatever he was going for. Soonyoung chuckles and then turns to Wonwoo. “Her hair’s longer.” 

“You saw her yesterday.” Wonwoo snorts. Chan and Soonyoung had come over again to ‘hang out’, but Wonwoo knows it was just because they wanted to see Nari. He really can’t blame them though; even when he doesn’t  _ have _ to be playing with Nari, he usually is.

“Well, whatever.” Soonyoung shrugs. “So  _ this _ is why you wanted to come to a restaurant. Minghao didn’t want to watch her?” 

“Minghao is scared of her.” Jun jokes, leaning forward to grin at Soonyoung. The two of them then start in on a conversation about Minghao, but Wonwoo pays them no attention, instead turning his focus back on Seungcheol. 

The older is still staring at him. His face is hard to read and Wonwoo kind of hates it, so he sighs and points to Nari. 

“This is Nari.” he introduces. The baby is currently chewing on her Stitch plushie they had brought in with them, but when she hears her name, she perks up. Wonwoo smiles at her. “She’s uh...she’s my daughter.” 

“I’m sorry?” Seungcheol heard him, Wonwoo’s knows he did, but he’s being difficult so Wonwoo takes another deep breath before he explains. 

“She uh...well...her mom dropped her off on my front porch about a week ago, and, well...I’m keeping her.” 

“You’re keeping her?!” Jeonghan whips around and glares at Wonwoo, and Wonwoo cowers backwards, remembering that he had yet to tell the older that he was keeping Nari. He smiles and nods, and Jeonghan’s face lights up, before he turns back to Joshua and begins yelling at him. It’s more of an excited yell, but Joshua still looks overwhelmed. 

“Keeping her? I’m confused.” Wonwoo turns back to Seungcheol and finds the older boy still staring at him with a perplexed look on his face. “Yours? How is she yours?” 

“Um...a girl I hooked up with about a year ago left a note with her and said she was mine.” Wonwoo explains. “Took a DNA test and, well, it’s true. So I’m a dad.” 

A week ago that statement would have made him throw up. Now, he can’t help but grin and feel a little proud. Nari is still happily bouncing on Soonyoung’s leg, but Soonyoung’s preoccupied with talking to Jun and now Jeonghan, so Wonwoo reaches forward and grabs her. She squeals and molds into his neck when he hugs her, overwhelmed with affection for the baby. 

When he looks back up Seungcheol is smiling at the two of them, looking more fond than anything. 

“You’re serious?” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo grins and sets Nari down on his lap. She starts chewing on the Stitch doll again, content with the situation. “Is that okay?” 

“Why are you asking me?” Seungcheol laughs and unfolds his hands, the atmosphere light again. “Is that okay with  _ you?” _

Wonwoo looks back down at Nari. He’s already come to terms with the fact that he’s keeping her, so he nods and smiles. 

“Yeah. But honestly, I kind of thought that you...wouldn’t approve, or whatever.” 

“Why would it matter what I thought? Hey, if you’re happy, I’m happy.” Seungcheol explains. “She’s a cutie, man. Congrats.” 

Wonwoo feels his cheeks heat up as he pulls Nari closer. He’s well aware of the grin Seungcheol is throwing his way, but he ignores it in favor of turning to face Jihoon. The other hadn’t known about Nari either, and he’s kind of eager to know what his opinion on all of this is. 

Even though it’s obvious he’s at least a little fond of her. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jihoon asks first. He has to lean over Soonyoung to address Wonwoo, and apparently that’s inconvenient, because he shoves Soonyoung out of his chair and trades with him. Nari laughs at it and Wonwoo doesn’t think he’s ever seen Jihoon smile so big. 

“I guess I just kind of forgot? I only decided to keep her a few days ago, and I just didn’t want a lot of people to know when I thought I wasn’t keeping her, so…” 

“Makes sense.” Jihoon nods. “So what now?” 

Wonwoo shrugs. Seungcheol has already immersed himself in a different conversation with Joshua, so he focuses all of his attention of the younger, answering his question. 

“I’m taking my finals this weekend, and then I’m done for the summer, so I don’t know.” Wonwoo hasn’t thought about it all that much. He supposes he’ll have to get a job, or something, to support himself and Nari. 

“Have you told your parents?” 

Wonwoo shrugs. He hasn’t, and he’s not afraid that they’ll freak out on him, or disown him, he just...hasn’t. 

“Well, that’s a start.” Jihoon continues. “How old is she?” 

Wonwoo then starts in on a spout about everything Nari-related. He talks about how old she is, the cute things she does, what he’s noticed since he’s had her, just everything he can think of. Jihoon listens intently and his smile doesn’t falter the entire time. They’re interrupted by the waitress once when she takes their orders, but then they get right back to it, Jihoon occasionally asking questions when appropriate. He seems genuinely interested and Wonwoo is thankful, because as much as Jun and Soonyoung and even sometimes Mingyu love Nari, they don’t particularly like sitting there and listening to Wonwoo gloat about her. 

Which Wonwoo realizes, halfway through their conversation, is also not normal Jihoon-behavior. So, he asks. 

“Not that I think you’re cold-hearted or whatever, but uh, I never knew you...liked kids.” 

Jihoon snorts. “I like kids. I want kids.” 

“Really?” 

Jihoon nods, his cheeks turning pink again. “I just have never really been around them.” 

“Well, you’re welcome to come over whenever.” Wonwoo replies. Jihoon shrugs and nods, and Wonwoo doesn’t expect him to take him up on his offer, but it’s worth mentioning. 

 

 

Jihoon does though. Take him up on his offer, that is. He shows up at the apartment an hour after Wonwoo has gotten back from taking his last final on Sunday, with bags of food in his hands and a gift sack in the other. When Wonwoo opens the door, he’s shocked to say the least, but he lets the younger in without saying a word. 

Jihoon isn’t the type to just ‘show up’. He really doesn’t come over unless there’s a preplanned event going on, and the rest of the group is coming over as well. He’s not exactly a recluse, but he certainly doesn’t just show up at his friend’s apartments unannounced. Which is why Wonwoo asks him what he’s doing the minute he sets his stuff down on the kitchen table. 

“I brought food.” Jihoon points to one of the bags and sure enough, there’s a bowl of store-bought pasta and some of Wonwoo’s favorite chips, as well as a pack of beer that Jun particularly likes. Wonwoo quirks an eyebrow.  

“Thanks?” He then points to the gift sack sitting next to the grocery bag. “What’s this?” 

“Oh, uh, that’s for Nari.” Jihoon explains quietly. Wonwoo holds back his snort as he nods and grabs the gift sack, peering into it to see what Jihoon had gotten. He pulls out two outfits, one that includes a pink shirt with a toucan on it and some tropical patterned pants, and then a onesie that says ‘Cutest Niece Ever’ on the front paired with a  _ tutu. _ There’s also a stuffed tiger and a board book titled  _ Peek-a-Who? _

Wonwoo grins and places the stuff back in the bag. When he looks back up at Jihoon, the younger is visibly uncomfortable, biting his lip while he glances around the apartment.

“Thank you, Jihoon.” 

“Yeah, you’re welcome, I just, you know…” He doesn’t finish his sentence and Wonwoo silently laughs at his embarrassed friend. He’s never really seen Jihoon so flustered, and it’s kind of hilarious, especially because it’s over his four month old  _ daughter. _

“Nari is taking a nap right now, but she should be up soon.” Wonwoo explains. He walks over to the couch and sits down, inviting Jihoon to do the same. Jihoon plops down in the armchair and nods. 

“I was just at the store, and thought I’d pick some stuff up and didn’t have anything really to do but study so I thought I would come over.” Jihoon sighs, catching his breath. “Is she in your room?” 

Wonwoo nods. “Yeah, Mingyu’s laying down with her.” 

Mingyu had watched Nari while Wonwoo was taking his finals, because “please Mingyu please come watch her Minghao won’t and I would rather die than leave her with Jun because he’ll probably forget to feed her or something and child services is coming this week to check on us and she can’t be malnourished, please”. So, Mingyu had agreed to watch her (he would have anyway, even without Wonwoo’s pleading) and now the two of them were napping in Wonwoo’s bed. 

Wonwoo had insisted that they slept in his bed, because Nari had to get used to it at some point, but also because “it’s better for your back, Mingyu”. The “I don’t even know if you have back problems but still” was left unsaid. In reality, Wonwoo just liked the smell of Mingyu, and it lingered on his pillows and blankets after he left. 

It’s weird and Wonwoo know’s it’s weird but does he care? Not really. He has a really hot guy sleeping in his bed with his kid, it’s fucking adorable, and he might have developed a little bit of a crush but it’s fine. They’re fine. 

“Who’s Mingyu?” Jihoon’s voice brings Wonwoo back in, and he flushes, because he had completely forgotten that Jihoon has no idea who Mingyu is. 

“Oh.” Wonwoo clears his throat. “My friend. He’s helped me with Nari, and he watched her while I took my finals today.” 

“Your friend?” Jihoon raises an eyebrow, and Wonwoo nods. “Your friend who’s sleeping in your bed with your daughter? 

“Yes.” Wonwoo gives Jihoon a tight-lipped smile, pleading him to stop asking questions. “Anyways, want to open up that pasta? It smells good.” 

“No.” Jihoon snorts and stands up from his chair. “I wasn’t planning on staying very long anyways. Clearly you have other things to do.” 

“No I don’t.” Wonwoo replies. He really doesn’t, he was just cleaning, because he’s a fucking housewife now. “I really don’t have anything else to do. You can stay.” 

“I have to get back and continue studying. Everyone else still has finals.” he snorts. Wonwoo ‘ahs’. He keeps forgetting he’s about the only person done already. “I can come over and see her some other time.” 

“Yeah, okay, I guess so.” Wonwoo sighs and stands up as well. “Really though, I was just doing dishes. You’re not bothering me.” 

“Okay.” Jihoon chuckles. “I still have to get back though. I have-” 

He stops though, and Wonwoo is about to ask why, but then he hears Nari make a noise from behind him. He whips around and finds Mingyu walking down the hallway, Nari clutched to his side while he grins at them. 

“We heard people and had to come check it out.” he explains, handing Nari over to Wonwoo. Wonwoo, completely disregarding the fact that Jihoon is still standing in front of him, peppers kisses all over Nari’s cheeks, causing her to squeal and grab at him. He pulls away and settles her on his hip, before turning back to Jihoon. The younger looks like he’s seen a ghost. 

“You’ve become a new person, Jeon Wonwoo.” he mutters. He then turns to Mingyu and sighs before offering him a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Jihoon.” 

“Mingyu.” The two of them shake hands and then Jihoon turns back to Wonwoo, reaching forward to pat at Nari’s head in a loving way.

“I really have to go. I’m glad I could see her though, and drop off that stuff.”

Nari immediately latches onto one of Jihoon’s fingers and tugs on it, causing Jihoon’s face to split into a wide grin. His eyes light up and Wonwoo wonders if he’s actually going to decide to stay for awhile, but then he pulls away with a sigh and begins walking towards the front door. 

“Okay. Text me when finals are over, you can come over whenever.” 

“‘Kay.” Jihoon nods and pulls the door open. “See you later. Nice to meet you, Mingyu.” 

“Yeah, you too!” Mingyu calls, sounding genuine. Wonwoo smiles as he watches his friend leave, and only turns to face the younger boy once the door shuts behind Jihoon. 

“That’s the one I told you about. The one that doesn’t like people but basically fell in love with Nari at the restaurant.” 

“How could you not?” Mingyu jokes. He walks over to where the gift sack is sitting on the table and looks through it. “Did he bring this?” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo nods and walks into the kitchen himself, but goes to make a bottle instead, because Nari hasn’t eaten in awhile and he doesn’t want her to start getting fussy. “Look at the onesie.” 

Mingyu does and once he’s done reading it, he laughs. “It’s cute. Everyone’s going to try to claim it, though.” 

“We’ll have to write his name on it.” Wonwoo jokes. He dumps a few scoops of formula into a clean bottle before he adds water and begins shaking it up. “Speaking of clothes. I uh, need to get some more. And like, permanent stuff for Nari.” 

“Yeah.” Mingyu nods. “Want to go tonight?” 

Wonwoo glances at the clock and finds that it’s going on 6 o’clock in the evening. He really just wants to eat the pasta and chips that Jihoon brought and watch TV, so he shakes his head ‘no’ and carries Nari into the living room. He takes his spot back on the couch and waits for Mingyu to join him before he begins feeding Nari. 

“Nah. We can go sometime this week.” 

Wonwoo loves how he didn’t even have to ask Mingyu to go along with him. 

“That’s fine with me, but maybe after I’m done with all of my finals.” 

“Okay.” Wonwoo can do that. Mingyu is done by Wednesday anyways; he knows this because he knows Mingyu’s entire schedule. It should be concerning, but neither of them are bothered by it. 

Mingyu turns the TV on for the both of them then, and then settles down in his seat next to Wonwoo. They’re on the two-seater couch, because that’s the one directly in front of the television. Wonwoo has Nari propped up in his left arm and Mingyu has his own arm thrown over the back of the couch, and he probably doesn’t mean anything when his hand brushes Wonwoo’s shoulder, but dammit, Wonwoo is going to pretend. 

They sit like that for awhile, watching some documentary that Jun had on the TV before he left, Wonwoo feeding Nari while Mingyu either tries to pay attention to the show or scrolls through his phone. It’s quiet, peaceful, and kind of domestic, and Wonwoo loves it. He bites at his lip and eventually turns to Mingyu, once Nari has been burped and is happily sitting in his lap. 

“Um, Jihoon brought food, if you’re hungry.” 

“Yeah?” Mingyu tears his eyes away from his phone and grins. Wonwoo nods, pointing to the bag on the kitchen table. 

“Yes. He brought pasta and chips, I think.” 

“Cool.” Mingyu stands up from the couch and walks over to the table. “I’ll make us a plate. They’re on the bottom shelf above the sink, right?” 

Wonwoo nods. He doesn’t even know why Mingyu knows that. But, Mingyu smiles and nods again, and then gets to work, plating food for the both of them happily. 

Wonwoo panics a little because  _ jesus, _ he has this boy he’s known for like a damn week in his apartment, acting all boyfriend-y, and he doesn’t even care because he kind of really wants him to be his  _ actual _ boyfriend but Mingyu has shown no romantic attraction towards him at all and  _ what the fuck, _ it’s like a soap opera, Wonwoo is probably hallucinating honestly. 

He clears his throat and leans back on the couch. He’ll forget about, that’s what he’ll do, because that’s the best option it seems. 

Mingyu walks back over with two plates balanced in his hands, and hands Wonwoo one, and then sits back down on the couch. 

“You know, that toucan outfit is really cute, we could like, take her to the Zoo or something and she could wear that, you know?” 

Wonwoo gulps. He can’t fucking forget about it. Not when Mingyu is talking about going to the dang  _ Zoo _ with them. 

“Yeah.” 

“That’d be fun. We should plan it, since summer is pretty much here.” 

Wonwoo wants to bang his head on the wall, in the door,  _ something. _ Mingyu might actually kill him, which is a problem, because the younger isn’t wrong; they haven’t even gone to the  _ Zoo _ yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	6. Chapter 6

Wonwoo doesn’t cry. Ever. Sad crying, happy crying, overwhelmed crying, angry crying, anything- he doesn’t cry. His parents had always been concerned about it, but eventually they learned to live with it, accepting the fact that their child was just emotionally constipated. 

So to say that Wonwoo is  _ surprised _ when a tear falls down his cheek as he looks at the many crib options in the department store he and Mingyu are at would be an understatement. He’s shocked. Genuinely stunned. 

“This one is kind of cool because it has a built in changing table and some drawers with it.” Mingyu turns to face Wonwoo. “Do you- Are you crying?” 

“No.” Wonwoo chokes out. He is, though. He’s crying. There is more than one tear streaming down his face and he  _ hates _ it. 

“What happened? Are you okay?” Mingyu walks over to Wonwoo and stands in front of him, his face full of concern. Wonwoo, embarrassed as all hell, buries his face in Nari’s hair and sighs. 

“I’m fine.” 

Mingyu takes Nari from his hands, and Wonwoo whines a little, his means of comfort taken away from him so suddenly. He can’t hide in her hair anymore and it sucks  _ because there are still tears. _

“What’s wrong, Wonwoo?” 

Wonwoo sighs. They’re shopping for stuff for Nari, more permanent stuff that he can use long-term, and it’s been great. The cart is full of clothing and bottles and diapers and other baby stuff Mingyu had written down on the list that Wonwoo’s been carrying. They’re almost done, and Wonwoo’s happy about that too, because he’s hungry. 

They just have really one more thing they need to get, though. And that’s the crib. Which is what Wonwoo is crying over. 

A  _ crib. _

He’s been sleeping with Nari ever since she showed up on his doorstep. She sleeps right next to him, with his arm curled around her, and almost every morning he wakes up with her either on his chest or molded into his side. It’s routine. He likes it. Hell, he fucking  _ loves _ it. Waking up next to her is his favorite part of the day. 

And now he’s going to have to wake up and roll over and look at her sleeping in a  _ box _ and she’ll probably hate it and-

“A lot of parents cosleep.” 

“What?” Wonwoo furiously wipes the tears from his face and stares up at Mingyu, eyes wide. 

“Cosleep. Like, they sleep in the same bed with their kid. Lot’s of people do it.”

“Oh.” Wonwoo sighs. “Cool, let’s head to check out then.” 

Mingyu snorts, but he doesn’t start moving, leaving Wonwoo to trip over his feet as he quickly tries to stop himself from walking into the younger. 

“Don’t you want to get a Pack ‘N Play or something? Just in case you can’t stay in the bed with her?” 

Wonwoo knows that a Pack ‘N Play's the thing that’s kind of like a cage for kids. Or at least that’s what Soonyoung had explained it as. Said that his sister used it when she needed to keep the kids in one place for awhile. Also said that it was a life saver.  

Wonwoo doesn’t really know when he’d ever need to use one, though. He’s always with Nari, but even when he isn’t, someone else is. But then he starts thinking about  _ what ifs, _ like what if he had someone stay over, but then he realizes that even if someone stayed over they wouldn’t  _ do _ anything because Nari would be there. 

And then he starts imagining scenarios and  _ that someone _ turns out to be  _ Mingyu _ in his head and oh fuck no, he can’t think that, so he quickly shakes himself out of his dangerous thoughts. 

“Yeah, let’s get one.” 

“Okay. I think I saw them in the next aisle over.” 

Wonwoo nods. He doesn’t say another word as he grabs the cart and starts pushing it in the direction of the aisle Mingyu had mentioned, the younger trailing behind him with Nari situated on his hip. 

They pick a Pack ‘N Play out quickly, and that really  _ is _ the last thing on the list, so after that they head towards the check out. It’s like a replay of the last time they were here, where the cashier dotes over Nari and makes a comment about Wonwoo and Mingyu, but Wonwoo has a harder time ignoring is this go around. 

By the time they’re in the car, with everything packed in the trunk and stuffed in open seats, Wonwoo’s face is bright red. 

“Are you hot?” Mingyu is driving, so he climbs into the driver’s seat and promptly blasts the AC, thinking that Wonwoo is red because he’s sweaty and not because he’s embarrassed. Wonwoo goes along with it because he’d rather freeze to death than admit to anything else. 

They decide on fast food for lunch, mostly because Nari is already half asleep by the time they’re pulling out of the department store’s parking lot. Mingyu ends up paying even though Wonwoo yells at him and then they head back to the apartment, deciding to just stay in for the rest of the afternoon. 

Neither of them have anything else they need to do, anyways. Finals concluded yesterday so really they’re free from here on out; Mingyu still has to work this summer, but his hours are different, and Wonwoo only has to care for Nari. It’s kind of nice when Wonwoo thinks about it. 

“Hey.” Wonwoo speaks up once they’re back at the apartment. He’s already laid Nari, who’s fast asleep, down on his bed, and is now dividing his and Mingyu’s food up so that they can finally eat. “When do you start working different hours?” 

Wonwoo knows that Mingyu will now work from 6:00 in the morning until 11:00, he just can’t remember if he starts this week or next. 

Mingyu takes his burger and fries and then heads into the living room. Wonwoo follows him, plopping down onto the two-seater couch right next to the younger. 

“Monday. 6-11.” Mingyu unwraps his burger, takes a huge bite. Chews and swallows and wipes at his mouth. “Why?” 

Wonwoo shrugs. “Just wondering.” 

“I know we haven’t really talked about it,” Mingyu takes a drink, clears his throat, “-but I still want to come over. If you want me to.” 

_ That’s a relief. _ Wonwoo didn’t want to have to directly ask Mingyu to still hang out with them now that school is over, and he’s kind of gotten the hang of things. That’d come off as kind of desperate, he supposes. And he is, but that’s besides the point. 

“Yeah, I do.” he nods and tries for nonchalance, but the smirk Mingyu gives him suggests that it didn’t come off as subtle at all. He quietly groans and buries his face in his burger, before he grabs the remote off of the coffee table and turns the TV on to drown out the silence that follows. 

Which doesn’t last for long, because after Mingyu swallows what has to be at least half of his fries, he turns to Wonwoo and speaks again. 

“You know, you’re cute-” Wonwoo almost  _ dies, _ “-with Nari. Like, at the store. It’s cute that you cried because you wanted to still sleep with her.” 

Wonwoo’s brain short circuits. He chokes on his burger, accidentally, and then washes it down with his drink before placing the half of it that’s left down onto the coffee table. He then leans back on the couch and folds his hands in his lap, he probably looks ridiculous, but he doesn’t care. He thinks he might actually be suffering from a heart attack. 

“Most people I know that are our age could never take in a kid like you did.” Mingyu continues, completely oblivious to the obvious meltdown Wonwoo is having next to him. He’s too immersed in the other half of his fries. “I may know a lot about kids, but I would probably freak out if I had to suddenly start taking care of my own.” 

“I just think it’s really cool how you were so willing to take her in and love her and stuff. I don’t think I’ve told you that yet.” 

“You haven’t.” Wonwoo squeaks, and then he remembers his  _ manners. _ “I mean, thank you. But uh, I probably couldn’t have done it without your help.” 

If Mingyu is going to be mushy, Wonwoo is going to be mushy too. 

“Well…” Mingyu turns and grins at Wonwoo, his cheeks tinted a slight pink color. “I’m just glad that Minghao talked to me about you guys. I really like hanging out with you and Nari, and-” 

Wonwoo’s phone starts buzzing. Excessively. On the coffee table. Which causes Mingyu to stop talking altogether, and stare at it. Wonwoo wants to say  _ no, keep going, tell me more, _ but when he glances at his phone he sees his mother’s name and, well, he can’t ignore  _ her. _

He grabs the phone, probably more aggressive than he should, slides the ‘accept’ button across the screen and then shoves it to the side of his face. 

“Hello?” 

_ “Did I catch you at a bad time?” _

Wonwoo sighs. He loves his mother dearly and shouldn’t be angry with her, especially since she didn’t  _ mean _ to interrupt Mingyu’s praise. 

“No, sorry. How are you?” 

_ “Sad that my son hasn’t called me in awhile.” _

Wonwoo bites his lip. He’s a sarcastic person, which is definitely something he got from his mom, if her tone is anything to go by. He hasn’t called her since he got Nari and part of that is because he was afraid to, but it was also because he just simply forgot. 

“I’m sorry. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, you know, with finals and stuff…” Wonwoo trails off. He hopes it comes off as sincere, and that his mother will accept the excuse. 

She doesn’t.

_ “Oh, I’ll say!” _ she exclaims. By this point, Mingyu is staring at Wonwoo, one of his  _ perfect fucking eyebrows _ raised in question. Wonwoo shrugs.  _ “Which one of your friends had a kid recently?” _

“What?!” Wonwoo squawks. He knows his face must pale because Mingyu’s eyes widen and he leans forward, as if that will help, and mouths ‘what’ in his direction. “What- what are you talking about?!” 

_“Honey, our bank accounts are still connected so that I can transfer money over to you when you need it.”_ she explains. Wonwoo groans and flops back on the couch, mentally cursing himself because _he really is an idiot._ _“I see everything you buy, and I don’t check often because I understand that’s apart of your privacy, but...who did we just buy almost $300 in baby stuff for?”_

There’s no way out of this. How is he supposed to justify spending so much money on baby things? His mom is close with all of his friends, like how Wonwoo is close with all of  _ their _ mothers, and she’d probably call whoever Wonwoo pinned the child on before he got a chance to contact them himself. 

“Mom. Give me a second.” he huffs out. He doesn’t give her a chance to reply before he hits the mute button on his phone, turning to Mingyu with wide eyes. 

“She knows.” 

“She knows?!” Mingyu whisper-shouts. Nari  _ is _ still asleep. 

“Their bank account is connected to mine and she saw all the stuff we bought!” he whisper-shouts back. “What am I supposed to say?!” 

Mingyu seems to ponder on this for a moment. Wonwoo sits there in anticipation, curious as to what the younger will come up with. He’ll take anything at this point, honestly. 

“Wonwoo, I think you just need to tell her.” 

“No!” Wonwoo shrieks.  _ That’s the worst idea. _ “I can’t do that!” 

“Are you planning on hiding Nari away for forever?” Mingyu asks, but continues before Wonwoo can reply. “Imagine how sad your parents will be once they do find out, and realize how much they’ve missed out on.” 

“Don’t guilt trip me.” Wonwoo hisses, even though Mingyu does have a point. How long would he even be able to hide it anyways? Another week? A month? A year? Just the thought of his mom crying when she  _ does _ find out, though, and then yelling at Wonwoo for not telling them has him cringing. 

“You said it yourself, you don’t think they would be mad or anything.” 

Mad, no. His parents hardly get angry at him or his little brother. Disappointed though? It’s likely, and Wonwoo doesn’t know if he’s prepared for that just yet. 

“They’re going to be disappointed in me.” 

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “You don’t know that until you tell them. Deal with that when the time comes.” 

Wonwoo sighs. He can either lie out of his ass, or tell his mom the truth and then prepare himself for her reaction. 

He clicks the mute button. 

“Mom?” 

_ “Wonwoo? Why did you mute me?” _

“I was talking to someone.”

_ “Oh, is it Jun? I miss that boy.” _

Wonwoo is positive that his mom likes Jun more than him. They’ve been best friends since the age of seven. Maybe he should tell her  _ he’s _ the one with the kid. 

“Um, no. It’s my friend Mingyu.” 

_ “I don’t think I’ve met him yet.” _ his mom ‘hms’, and then-  _ “Is he the one with the baby? How old is he?” _

“No, mom, he’s not the one with the kid.” Wonwoo sighs and the phone is on speaker, so Mingyu hears it, and he snorts. Wonwoo hits him with one of the throw pillows. “Uh, mom? Where are you?” 

_ “I’m at home. Why? Are you okay?” _

“Yeah, fine.” Wonwoo clears his throat.  _ Might as fucking well, _ he thinks. Mingyu has convinced him. Mingyu could probably convince him to jump off of a building if he’s being honest with himself. “Are you sitting down?” 

“You’re so dramatic.” Mingyu whispers, and hits Wonwoo back with the throw pillow. Wonwoo glares at him and then picks his phone up from the couch cushion, holding it close to his face. 

_ “I am. I’m in the living room with your father. Are you sure you’re okay?” _ his mom sounds worried now and Wonwoo just groans, again, because he’s expecting the worst. He doesn’t understand why life throws him into  _ these _ kind of situations. 

“What would...uh...what would you say if you had a grandkid?” 

_ “Oh my God, _ just jump to the chase.” Mingyu hisses. Wonwoo glares at him again, and he’s about to shove him off of the couch, but his mother’s voice stops him. 

_ “Is that Mingyu?” _ she asks.  _ “If it is, I agree with him. Wonwoo, what’s going on?” _

“Yeah, so.” Wonwoo bites his lip.  _ It’s hard to find the words, okay? _ “The, uh, the baby stuff is for me. Well, not for me, but for a baby. My baby. I have a baby.” 

Silence. Wonwoo holds his breath, and barely registers Mingyu stifling his laughter into a different throw pillow next to him. Static sounds on the other side of the phone and Wonwoo is afraid his mom has hung up when-

_ “What?” _

“I didn’t know? Until, like, two weeks ago. Her mom dropped her off on the doorstep with barely anything and a note and some money and told me she was mine, and so I took her in of course, and I was going to give her up for adoption but I just...I just couldn’t.” Wonwoo takes a deep breath. “I took a DNA test. She’s mine.” 

Silence again. Mingyu has stopped laughing, now, and looks equally as anxious as Wonwoo does while they wait for a reply. 

All they get is crying sounds, though. And muffled words that neither of them can really understand.

“What? Mom, I can’t understand you.” Wonwoo is about to  _ throw up _ and his mom is  _ crying, _ what the fuck. 

_ “I’m a grandma!” _ his mom finally shouts, and Wonwoo was expecting disappointment, or maybe even disbelief, but his mom sounds  _ happy _ and  _ excited _ and it startles him back into the couch. 

_ “Jeon Yoo, we’re grandparents!” _ his mom shouts on the other end of the phone, obviously not talking to Wonwoo.  _ “Go pick Bohyuk up from school right this minute, we’re going to visit Wonwoo!” _

“No, mom, really, that’s okay.” Wonwoo pleads. He’s not ready for that. They live only an hour away, they can come whenever,  _ but not right now though. _ He needs...time. 

_ “Nonsense, Jeon Wonwoo. I’ve just found out I am a grandmother, we’re not prolonging this anymore.” _ she argues, and Wonwoo has no power against her, so he accepts his fate.  _ “Do your friends know? Were we the last ones to find out?” _

“Uh.” Wonwoo coughs, clearing his throat. “Yes?” 

_ “I cannot believe this.” _ But his mom doesn’t sound too upset with him.  _ “I can’t even be mad at you, I’m too excited. Are they a girl? Or a boy? What’s their name?” _

“Um, a girl.” Wonwoo finds himself smiling even at the mere mention of Nari. “Her name is Nari. She’s four months old.” 

_ “Oh, I’m crying again.” _ his mom mutters, and yeah, it’s obvious that she’s crying. Wonwoo chuckles a little and chances a look at Mingyu, who’s smiling fondly at him, his eyes sincere. 

_ “I cannot wait to meet her, Wonwoo. We’ll be there soon. We’ll bring food, and I want your friends there. I haven’t seen them in a while and this calls for a celebration.” _

Wonwoo’s parents have always been… Well, his mom was a PTA mom, and his dad coached all of his little league sports, so he should have expected this. And quite frankly, even though he’ll never admit it because just a few moments ago he had been dreading it, he’s kind of excited to see them. And his little brother. His brother will probably still laugh at him, but the idea of introducing them to Nari has him giddy. 

“I’ll call them all up.” he promises. He hopes that they’re all free, but knowing most of them, they’ll probably cancel whatever they have going on to come over anyways. 

_ “Okay, I need to get ready now.” _ his mom sighs and he sighs as well, out of habit.  _ “Jeon Wonwoo, I love you. I cannot wait to see you.” _

“Love you too, mom.” Wonwoo mumbles, suddenly shy because Mingyu can still hear the conversation going on between the two of them. He chances a look at the younger again and finds him still watching on, fondly, which makes his heart flutter just a little. 

He says goodbye and hangs up with his mother after that, with one last promise of calling all of his friends and demanding that they come over. Which he’s about to do the minute that he gets off of the phone with her, but then Mingyu standing up from the couch catches his attention and he pauses his previous activities to address him. 

“Where are you going?” 

Mingyu, who gathers all of his trash together in his hands, shrugs. “I should probably head out since, you know…” 

“Um, no?” Wonwoo manages, his eyebrows drawn in. “You’re definitely staying.” 

Mingyu quirks his  _ perfect fucking eyebrow _ again. 

“Stay. Please.” Wonwoo pleads, quite pathetically might he add. And then- “I need you here.” 

It’s true. He’s come to terms with the fact that Mingyu is kind of his anchor in overwhelming situations that include Nari, and while he might have more familiar faces around him for the evening, he still wants the younger to stay. Needs him to stay. He’s become dependant on Mingyu, dammit. 

“Okay.” Mingyu cracks a smile and nods. “Yeah, sure.” 

 

 

 

“How long has it been since they’ve visited?” Soonyoung asks him, while he sips on his beer that Jun had provided him with. It’s one of the wheat things that Wonwoo hates, and he grimaces. 

“Christmas break.” 

“Shit, so it’s been awhile.” Soonyoung snorts. Wonwoo nods, because yeah, it has. He hadn’t gone home over spring break, so it’s been almost five months since he’s seen his family. They don’t live that far away from each other, but his parents understand that he needs space, and that he’ll come home when he wants to. Turns out, he had just forgotten to throughout the spring semester. 

“Can’t believe they took the news so well.” Soonyoung says next. He nods towards Nari, who’s sitting on Jihoon’s lap in the living room. He absolutely will not hand her over to anyone else and Wonwoo thinks it’s the most hilarious thing ever. Not even Chan has gotten a chance to hold her yet, which is funny because usually Jihoon is soft for  _ him _ too. 

“It did kind of surprise me.” Wonwoo admits, shrugging. “But I’m glad.” 

“They’re going to love her, man.” Soonyoung mumbles. He takes another sip of his beer and then, in Soonyoung-fashion, pushes off of the countertop and walks over to join his boyfriend in the living room without another word. Wonwoo watches him go but stays put, happy to just observe from the kitchen. 

Until a knock sounds at his door. All of his friends are already in his apartment, save for Jeonghan and Joshua who already had plans they  _ absolutely could not get out of, _ so it could only be his family. He pushes off of the countertop himself and trudges over to the door, nerves growing with each step. The apartment goes quiet with anticipation and he wishes it wouldn’t, but he can’t do anything about it, so he just throws the door open and manages his best smile. 

He’s met with his mother’s beaming face. Behind her is his father, who looks happy as usual, as well as his little brother, who just looks annoyed. Wonwoo doesn’t understand why, though, because they pulled him out of  _ school _ for this. 

The first thing his mom does is cry again. A tear falls down her cheek and then she engulfs Wonwoo in a hug. 

“My baby!’ she wails and Wonwoo is so thankful that none of his friends laugh at him behind his back, because then he’d have to kill him. 

“Hi, mom.” he mumbles back, wrapping her up into a tight hug himself. When he pulls back he shuffles the three of them into the apartment, and then suddenly the room erupts in noise again, everyone standing up to greet the Jeon family. Seungcheol is the first, as always, and then the rest of his friends make their rounds. 

Except for Jihoon, who stands next to Wonwoo and only hands Nari over to him when he’s glared at.

Oh, and Mingyu. Mingyu stays in the kitchen, standing next to the table where he and Minghao had been conversing. Wonwoo, feeling bad for his only friend that doesn’t know his parents, walks over to join the boy. He sidles up next to him and maybe it should be concerning how Mingyu practically molds into his side, but he chooses to ignore it. 

He watches as his parents greet each of his friends, one by one, genuinely excited to see all of them. Even Bohyuk looks happy, especially when he latches onto Minghao’s side and starts talking about what he’s been learning in his dance classes. They’ve always gotten along exceptionally well, and Minghao hates most people, but for some reason he really likes Wonwoo’s younger brother. 

When greetings are done Wonwoo’s family make their way more into the apartment. His father sets the bag(s) of food they had brought down on the kitchen table and then, at once, they all three walk over to where Wonwoo and Mingyu are standing. 

His mother, ever the polite lady, ignores her obvious excitement at seeing Nari, and instead introduces herself to Mingyu first. Wonwoo smirks a little because Mingyu flushes and throws him a nervous glance. 

“I suppose you’re Mingyu?” 

“Yes.” Mingyu croaks out. He bows a little and then takes her hand, shaking it slowly. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” she replies, but then can’t contain herself anymore and turns to Wonwoo. Her face splits into a large grin as she stares right at Nari, her eyes filling with hearts. 

“Oh, Wonwoo, she looks just like you.” she coos, and she tears up again, sniffling slightly. Wonwoo snorts and hands Nari over to his mom, who looks as if she’ll go crazy if she can’t hold her right this minute. 

His mom takes her carefully, pulling her into her chest, and Wonwoo is afraid Nari that will start crying for a second, but then she just shrieks and slaps her cheek. Everyone in the room erupts in laughter, thankful that the introduction went well. Wonwoo sighs and relaxes a little, content with letting his mom carry Nari into the living room so that she can play with her. Bohyuk follows her, while his dad stays put standing next to him and watches them fondly. 

The night is successful after that. The chinese food that his parents had brought is a hit with everyone, and there are hardly any leftovers once they’re all done. Wonwoo is thankful, because they have limited storage space, and he knows his parents wouldn’t have taken it back home with them. 

At some point in the evening Jihoon gets Nari back, and he refuses to give her up again, even to Bohyuk who pleads with him for a straight thirty minutes. In the end the two of them read the board book Jihoon had bought for her to her, four times over, with differing voices each time. Soonyoung records it and sends it to Jeonghan and Wonwoo might be stretching, but he’s pretty sure Jihoon noticed, and didn’t even care. 

His dad stays close to him, because while he’s generally a happy and enthused person, he isn’t one for crowds. That’s where Wonwoo got his shyness from, for sure. They stay in the kitchen for most of the night and just talk, about how Wonwoo’s classes went, if he’s prepared for his senior year, how Nari is doing. It’s nice. While he talks to his mom a lot, he usually doesn’t talk to his dad unless his mom forces him on the phone. 

The conversations are mostly nice, until his dad nods towards Mingyu, who’s standing next to Chan across the room, and clears his throat. 

“That boy...he’s new.” 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo nods.  _ Pretty new, yep. _ Wonwoo still feels like he’s known him for years, though. 

“You two seem...close. Are you dating him?” 

If Wonwoo had been drinking or eating anything, he might have spit it out. No, not might. Definitely would have spit it out. He side eyes his dad, but shakes his head ‘no’, feeling the heat rise on his cheeks. 

“No.” he mumbles. “He...he works at a daycare, is an early childhood education major, and Minghao and Chan knew him so they asked him to help me out when I first got Nari.” 

Honestly, Wonwoo is just glad that his dad isn’t freaking out on him. He’s never...disclosed his sexuality, because he’s never put a label on it himself. He’s always been with girls, has never dated a guy before, or even been interested in one, but...he supposes he’s just attracted to whoever he’s attracted to. Which, currently, is Mingyu, and if his dad is picking up on it…

“I would not be opposed, and neither would your mother. I think you know this.” 

In the back of his mind, Wonwoo does know this. His parents are accepting, would love him no matter what. He smiles. 

“Thanks, dad. But...we’re just friends.” 

“You seem fond of him.” his dad continues, completely disregarding Wonwoo’s statement. “And he seems very fond of you and Nari. Are you sure there’s nothing going on between the two of you?” 

At least he has the decency to keep his voice down. Wonwoo sighs. 

“No, there’s not.” The ‘but I wish there was’ is left unsaid, but he thinks his dad picks up on it, if his small smile is anything to go by. 

“I like him, he seems very caring.” his dad pauses, choosing to study Mingyu a little, who’s now crouched down right next to Jihoon. He’s making funny faces at Nari, which has her cackling and grabbing for him, and it’s the cutest thing Wonwoo has ever seen, he can’t hardly take it. 

“He is.” Wonwoo admits. There’s a wide smile on his face, and it’s not going anywhere for awhile. 

“Good.” His dad nods once, and then pushes off of the wall they’re standing by. “I’m going to go save those poor boys from your mother.” 

Wonwoo easily finds his mom within the crowd of people in his living room. She’s talking to Jun and Seungcheol while they sit on the couch, and he doesn’t quite know what his dad means because they look  _ fine, _ but he lets him be. 

He’s kind of emotionally constipated himself, Wonwoo probably got that from him as well. So he just watches him go attach himself to his mom’s side, and soon enough he’s talking to Jun and Seungcheol too. 

It isn’t until someone sidles up next to him that he realizes just how long he’s been standing by himself. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, have gone by, composed of just standing next to the wall and watching the scene in front of him. He’s always been a wallflower, it doesn’t bother him, but when he looks up and is met with Mingyu’s face, he’s grateful. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey.” Wonwoo chuckles. Mingyu bites his lip and leans back against the wall behind them. 

“Your family is cool.” 

“Yeah?” Mingyu nods, and Wonwoo grins. “Thanks. You’re right, they are pretty cool.” 

Wonwoo has never been embarrassed by them. His parents may be  _ extra _ as hell, and his brother is sometimes kind of a menace, but he loves them. 

“Nari is lucky she’s got you guys.” 

Wonwoo is the one to bite his lip this time. His cheeks heat up again, he’s lost count on how many times that’s happened today, and he just looks up at Mingyu’s face. 

“She’s going to be one spoiled little girl, but I’m glad she has such a loving family.” Mingyu chuckles quietly, leaning into Wonwoo just a tad. “Her dad is pretty cool, too.” 

Wonwoo blushes furiously, worse than he had before, and turns away to stare straight ahead at nothing, really. He clears his throat and shrugs. 

“I try.” 

Mingyu laughs, not loud enough to draw attention to them, but then goes quiet as well. Wonwoo sighs and then they stand there in silence, which isn’t awkward at all, as he watches Jihoon reluctantly pass Nari over to his dad. 

“Hey, Mingyu?” he glances back up at the younger and goes for subtle, but his face can’t help but to melt into a grin when Mingyu peers down at him. 

“Yeah?” 

“She’s lucky to have you too.” Wonwoo whispers. “We both are.” 

Something flashes between Mingyu’s eyes, and Wonwoo doesn’t know what to call it or how to label it, but the smile Mingyu offers him is different. Different than any smile he’s ever given him before. 

Something changes. Wonwoo can’t help but revel in it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	7. Chapter 7

Wonwoo sighs. He shifts on the bed and then tugs his comforter up, covering his bare torso to shield him from the draft coming from the fan in the corner of the room. He scooches forward and pulls Nari closer to him, propping his head up with his other arm. 

“It’s going to be one of those nights, huh?” 

Nari peers up at him, from where she’s sprawled out on her back on the bed. Her sleep sack is bunched up around her arm and Wonwoo leans forward to fix it before he settles back and continues to stare at her. 

It’s 2:52 in the morning. They’ve been awake since 1:30. Nari hasn’t cried once, nor gotten fussy at all, but she hasn’t settled down either. Wonwoo has tried a bottle, has changed her diaper, has done everything he could think to do to get her to go back to sleep but nothing’s worked. So, they’ve been staring at each other for a good while, and he’s hoping it’ll bore her back to sleep but so far there’s been no luck. 

Nari makes a noise, one of her many baby-noises, and sticks her fist in her mouth. She starts chewing on her hand and Wonwoo sighs, because she’s wide awake, and he’s probably not getting any sleep any time soon. 

“Okay.” He shuffles again, this time picking Nari up and depositing her on his chest. She lays there, on her stomach, and looks up at him with a quirked eyebrow as if to say ‘dad, what?’. He smiles and smooths down her horrendous bed-head. 

“How about I tell you a story?” 

She can’t really understand him, she’s still so little, but he’s hoping that maybe his voice will lull her to sleep. She doesn’t react in any way to his suggestion, just continues to chew on her hand, but he takes that as a go-ahead and prepares himself for story time. 

“Right, so.” he begins, taking a deep breath. Nari squirms at the sudden movement of his chest, and he wraps an arm around her, shifting yet again so that he’s lying completely on his back. He moves his pillow behind his neck so that he’s more comfortable and then smiles up at the baby. 

“Once upon a time, there was a princess named Nari…” 

Wonwoo has no idea where he’s going with this. Not a single clue. His mind goes blank; he’s never had to tell bedtime stories before, so he doesn’t have anything prepared. Nari looks interested, though. He knows that it’s probably just because he’s talking, and the sound of his voice is comforting to her, but the sight of her staring at him has him wanting to continue. 

“And she was the most gorgeous little girl in the entire kingdom. She had big, brown eyes and long, long eyelashes.” 

He says this because he’s looking at her eyes, and it’s true. Her eyes are brown, just like his, but her eyelashes are extremely long, even more so than his own. He silently thanks the heavens for making his little girl the prettiest baby in the world, and then continues.

“Everyone loved her a lot. Her daddy’s name was Wonwoo, and he was the king of the whole kingdom.” 

He has to throw himself in there. Nari gurgles and kicks her legs a little. 

“She had lots of uncles, and they all had jobs around the castle. They all worked together and played together with Nari every single day.” 

He says his words slowly, his voice deep but soft in an attempt to calm her. Her eyes don’t droop, but her head does fall to his chest, resting right above where his heart is. 

“There was Uncle Jun, who was the cook, and Uncle Minghao, who was just there to keep the cook in line.” 

“Uncle Soonyoung was the cleaner, but he and Uncle Chan always split the job so that it would get done faster. Then they would play with Princess Nari for the rest of the day, which would always annoy Uncle Jihoon, because he was Princess Nari’s nanny.” 

Wonwoo quietly snickers at the mere mention of Jihoon being a ‘nanny’. But, if he’s being honest, if he ever asked Jihoon, he’s pretty sure the younger boy would agree to it.  

“Uncle Seungcheol was the guard of the castle. He kept all of the bad people out, and made sure everyone living in the castle was healthy and safe.” 

“Uncle Joshua made deals with the other kingdoms, and Uncle Jeonghan didn’t really do anything, but everyone still loved him. Princess Nari especially loved to play with his long hair.” 

“And then there was the rest of the royal family. Princess Nari’s grandma and grandpa, and her Uncle Bohyuk, whom she loved dearly. King Wonwoo wouldn’t be able to run the kingdom if it wasn’t for them.” 

Wonwoo glances back down at Nari. Her eyes are closed now, but he knows from experience that she probably isn’t fully asleep yet. He sighs and continues on with the story, because clearly it’s working. 

“Last but not least, there was Mingyu. Mingyu wasn’t Nari’s uncle, but he was loved just the same.” 

Nari doesn’t understand the idea of families yet, doesn’t know what an ‘uncle’ is, so Wonwoo has no idea why he explains it like that. 

Except he does. He knows why, he just doesn’t want to admit it to himself. 

“Mingyu was special. He helped out King Wonwoo way more than anyone else, and held a special place in both Nari and King Wonwoo’s hearts.” 

A certain noise cuts Wonwoo off, causing him to end his story there. He stares down at his daughter, eyes wide, mouth agape. 

_ Did...did Nari just snore? _

She does it again, quiet and cute, and Wonwoo has to bite his lip to keep from chuckling. He’s never noticed it before and honestly, it’s the most precious thing he’s ever experienced in his entire life. 

“Sleep tight, baby girl.” he mumbles, pressing a short kiss to her forehead. He doesn’t bother moving, just wraps his comforter around the both of them before closing his own eyes for the night. 

 

~

 

Nari may have been hard to put down for the night, but now, it’s like she can’t stop sleeping. She’s been napping for going on an hour, and it’s almost lunch time, and quite frankly Wonwoo is  _ bored. _ He feels like one of those stir-crazy stay-at-home-moms you see in movies and if he doesn’t get out and  _ do _ something, he may actually scream. 

The only thing that’s keeping him going is the fact that Mingyu gets off of work in 3 minutes. It’s 10:57 and he’s been counting down the hours, minutes really, since he woke up this morning. 

It’s not like he can’t live without Mingyu. He can. He’d just rather live  _ with _ him in his life. Always. 

Wonwoo sighs and stands up from the couch, briefly wondering if he should maybe get a part-time job just so that he can stay sane. But then he remembers his conversation with his mother a few days prior, and quickly shuts the idea down. A loud “Jeon Wonwoo, if you get an unnecessary job knowing good and well that you have parents that are willing to provide for you and your  _ daughter _ so that you can stay at home and raise her, I will kill you” had killed any and all dreams of getting a job. He doesn’t hate the idea of using his parent’s money while he’s still in school, appreciates it a lot actually, but he just needs a hobby. Something to keep him busy. 

He loves taking care of Nari, but  _ god damn, _ it gets boring. 

He’s already eaten at least four snacks this morning so he doesn’t know why he’s walking to the kitchen, but he is, so he accepts. He stops in front of his fridge but instead of pulling it open, he studies the piece of paper stuck to it. 

 

_ “She can’t even hold a pencil.”  _

_ “Whatever, pretend she’s the one drawing it.” Mingyu replies. He’s bouncing Nari on his right leg, while he draws something on the piece of paper in front of him.  _

_ “Yeah, sure.” Wonwoo snorts. _

 

Wonwoo grins at the memory from a few days before. The picture of the fridge depicts him, Nari, and Mingyu. Above himself and Nari are the titles ‘Princess Nari’ and ‘King Wonwoo’. The picture had actually been the premises of his bedtime story. 

He whips around, then, and begins to walk over to where his phone is sitting on the coffee table. He gets halfway there and then it starts ringing, and it’s kind of weird, because it’s almost as if he had been expecting it. 

He grabs it quickly and, without looking at the caller ID, slides the ‘accept’ button. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Wonwoo?” 

It’s Mingyu. Wonwoo can’t stop the grin that spreads across his face. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” 

“So, this is kind of embarrassing.” Mingyu chuckles but Wonwoo detects the nervousness in it. “Um, well, my car kind of broke down? Like, it won’t start, so I’m stranded at work.” 

Wonwoo snorts. Mingyu’s car isn’t old, per say, but it isn’t new either, and it has a horrible jerk to it when it’s stalled.  _ It was only a matter of time, _ Wonwoo supposes. 

“Need me to come pick you up?” 

“Well, here’s the thing.” Mingyu chuckles again and Wonwoo can just  _ imagine _ him running his hands through his hair. “My two friends and I carpool to work, and today was my turn to drive. And, uh...Seungkwan’s boyfriend can’t come get him and Seokmin, because he’s at work too, so…” 

He trails off and Wonwoo bites his lip to keep himself from laughing, because the younger’s voice goes so quiet, like he’s afraid that Wonwoo is going to get mad or something. 

Wonwoo isn’t mad. He  _ did _ say he wanted to get out and do something, after all. 

“That’s fine. Nari and I can come get you guys.” he says, and actually does chuckle when Mingyu breathes out a sigh of relief on the other line. 

“Oh, you’re a lifesaver.” he replies. “Honestly, you’re the best.” 

“‘S no problem.” Wonwoo mumbles. He’s already making his way over to where Nari is still passed out in her bouncy seat. He has to kick pillows out of the way, because he’s paranoid and puts all of the throw pillows around the seat when Nari is in it, but eventually he makes it. 

“Just share your location with me, and we’ll be there pretty soon. I just need to put some clothes on her real quick.” 

Wonwoo is a firm believer in the stay-in-your-pajamas-all-day-long-if-you’re-not-going-out idea, so half the time Nari isn’t even dressed. When it’s warm and he’s lazy, sometimes she just plays in her diaper. 

“Will do. Thank you so much, really.” 

“Needed to do something today, anyways.” Wonwoo picks Nari up from her seat and she only folds into him, smacking her lips loudly. “We’ll be there soon, okay?” 

“Awesome. See you!” Mingyu hangs up after Wonwoo mutters a quick goodbye to him, so Wonwoo does the same, and then tosses his phone onto the couch. He carries Nari into his room and gets started on dressing her, just slipping her into a onesie and some leggings after changing her diaper. 

She wakes up in between Wonwoo changing her diaper and buttoning her into a onesie. He smiles down at her and peppers her little face with kisses before he resumes. She laughs, the best she can as she still tries to wake herself up, and then doesn’t even try to struggle with him when he puts socks on her feet. 

When he walks back out into the living room he grabs the diaper bag (a new one, one his mother bought for him and had shipped to his apartment, because ‘the other one was ugly’) and then grabs his keys and wallet before slipping some shoes on. He gets Nari buckled into her carseat and then they’re off, on a quest to save Mingyu from his broken car. 

 

When they get to the daycare Mingyu works at, they’re met with a tow truck and three disheveled-looking boys, who are all staring at said tow truck with wide eyes. The truck has Mingyu’s car loaded onto it and Mingyu is talking to the driver. Wonwoo pulls into a parking space a few feet away from the small gathering, and only has to wait about four minutes before the three boys make their way over to him. 

He unlocks the doors and of course the first to climb in is Mingyu, with a loud sigh and ‘hmph’ noise. 

“Hello to you too.” Wonwoo greets, laughing. He watches, out of his rearview mirror, as the other two boys hesitantly climb into the back. Mingyu must have not told them about Nari, because the shorter of the two looks incredibly surprised upon seeing her. 

“Hi.” Mingyu grins at him, and then twists around in his seat, shoving his head past the visor of Nari’s car seat so that he can smile at her. She squeals and he, very enthusiastically, says ‘Hello princess!’ and Wonwoo nearly passes out. 

“Oh, yeah, this is Seokmin and Seungkwan.” Mingyu says when he turns back around, after having strained his entire body to place a kiss on Nari’s forehead. “And guys, this is Wonwoo.” 

Wonwoo twists in his own seat and grins at the two boys, both who look younger than him. Seokmin, who has brown hair and a blinding smile, waves shyly and then looks back down at Nari, grinning brightly at her. Seungkwan, who’s the shorter of the two, smiles before addressing Wonwoo. 

“Thanks so much for picking us up.” 

“No problem.” Wonwoo waves him off and turns back around in his seat, starting his car back up again. 

“And this is Nari.” Mingyu gestures towards Nari, his smile wide.  

“Yeah, we’ve heard a lot about her.” Seokmin’s grin doesn’t falter as he speaks, and he looks back up, which Wonwoo sees through the mirror. “She’s really cute.” 

Wonwoo doesn’t even try to cover up his blush. “Thanks.” 

“Mingyu talks about her all the time. He even tells all of the parents about her, I think some of them think she’s his kid.” Seungkwan explains. Wonwoo snorts, but when he glances at Mingyu, the younger is frantically waving his hands about. His face is beet red, too. 

“No, uh, it’s not like that. I just-” 

Wonwoo whacks him on the shoulder to get him to shut up. “It’s fine. You’ve known her practically as long as I have, anyways.” 

That gets Mingyu to stop waving his arms around, but it doesn’t do anything to lessen the color that’s now spread across his cheeks. Wonwoo snickers at this, before he throws the car into drive.  

“So, where to?” 

“Could you take us to that little coffee shop that’s right by campus? My boyfriend works there and he gets off in an hour, I  _ told _ Mingyu that we could just wait-” 

“I think he wanted to show you and Nari off.” Seokmin cuts in. 

“-for him to get off and come pick us up, but he said you wouldn’t mind, so.” 

Wonwoo barely registers anything past Seokmin’s statement. He does remember ‘coffee shop’ and ‘by campus’, though, so it’s a start. 

“Um, yes.” he clears his throat. “I can.” He knows the exact place, he’s been to it a thousand times, so he starts on down the road and heads in that direction. 

The car ride isn’t awkward, nor is it silent. Seokmin and Seungkwan keep up the chatter, engaging both him and Mingyu, but mostly Mingyu, and it makes for a pleasant ride. It only takes about 15 minutes to get to the coffee shop, but by the time they’re pulling into the parking lot, Wonwoo has already disclosed most of what he knows about Nari to the two unfamiliar boys. 

They seem nice, though, and Mingyu obviously likes them, so Wonwoo doesn’t mind. 

“Ah, again, thank you so much.” Seungkwan says once Wonwoo is parked and he’s unbuckled his seatbelt. “We owe you.” 

“It’s really no problem.” Wonwoo chuckles. He’s turned around in his seat again; he can see Nari, through the little mirror thing Mingyu had made him buy for the car seat, chewing on her hand again. She’s got Seokmin’s finger trapped in her other hand but the guy doesn’t even look like he minds.

“Well, still.” Seungkwan shrugs. “It was nice to meet you.” 

“Yeah, you guys too.” Wonwoo grins at both Seungkwan and Seokmin, who smile back at him, completely genuine. Wonwoo likes them already and is kind of upset when they climb out of the car and make their way into the coffee shop. 

Maybe he really is turning into a lonely stay-at-home-mom. He voices this to Mingyu. 

“What?” Mingyu turns to face him, one of his eyebrows arched. “Why do you say that?” 

“I think I might be going stir crazy.” Wonwoo explains. “I need a hobby. Or something. I’m sad about  _ your _ friends leaving.” 

Mingyu stares at him for a couple of seconds, and then bursts out into a fit of laughter. Wonwoo sighs and leans his head back against his headrest. 

“All I did today was clean and watch Nari sleep.” 

Mingyu laughs harder. 

“My mom won’t let me get a job, though. So what do I do? How do I combat this before it gets too bad? What if I go crazy?” 

“You’re already kind of crazy.” Mingyu manages, his laughter dying down little by little. “In a good way, though.” 

Wonwoo sighs again. 

“Take art classes.” 

“What do I do with Nari?” 

“She’s a good baby, I bet she’d be fine to just sit in her car seat for awhile.” 

Wonwoo glares at Mingyu. He doesn’t  _ care _ about art. 

“Cooking classes.” 

“No.” 

“You’re awful at cooking, though. You can practice stuff you learn by making dinner for when Jun and Minghao get home.” 

“I’m trying to be less of a stay at home parent, Mingyu.” 

“But you are.” 

Wonwoo glares at Mingyu again. Mingyu cackles. 

“Okay, okay.” Mingyu sighs and shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe get a dog.” 

Wonwoo...likes this idea. His glare slowly turns into a smile. 

He’s never liked dogs. Never had one, never wanted one, never particularly found them cute. He read an article on Facebook, once, that said that kids that grow up with dogs are significantly happier than kids that don’t, though, so he thinks that this may work. 

He throws his car into gear and backs out of his parking space. 

“Where are we going?” 

“To get a dog.” 

“Oh, I was just kidding.” Mingyu sounds startled. “Are you being serious?” 

“Nari needs a friend.” 

“I think maybe  _ you _ need a friend, but okay.” Mingyu snickers. Wonwoo lets the joke slide and turns onto the road, heading in the direction of where the dog shelter is.  He knows it’s on the north side of campus because he took Soonyoung there once, when the older had thought he wanted a dog too. 

He went home with three cats and a pissed-off Chan on the phone. 

Wonwoo finds the shelter easily, his memory serving him right. When he pulls in, they’re the only car in the parking lot, and usually he’d start questioning himself and his motives but instead he just turns it off and gets out and goes to grab Nari. Mingyu slings the diaper bag over his shoulder and then they make their way into the small building, without saying anything to each other. 

They’re greeted by short girl with purple hair and multiple piercings. She looks friendly and has a kitten in her arms and Wonwoo  _ melts _ but  _ can’t _ because he’s allergic. 

He sneezes and hoists Nari’s car seat up. 

“I would like to adopt a dog.” 

“Oh!” the girl says, surprised. “Awesome. What are you looking for?” 

“Uh.” Wonwoo hasn’t gotten that far yet. “I don’t know, actually.” 

“That’s okay! We can help you out.” she smiles and waves them over, before turning and opening a door that’s behind her. “I can show you the kennels in the back. Is there a specific age you’re looking for?” 

“Young as possible.”  _ The dog has to grow up with Nari, or it’s not going to work. _

“Cool! We have a few puppies up for adoption, I’ll show you them first.” 

Mingyu stays silent as he trails behind Wonwoo. Wonwoo sneezes again and jerks Nari a little, and she whines, and so he turns around and hands the car seat over to the younger. Mingyu takes it with a smile and then they continue following the girl. 

Wonwoo needs his hands to be free if he’s going to look at dogs, anyways. 

They keep walking behind the girl until she stops in front of a pen. Before she opens the door to it, though, she continues down the hall and deposits the kitten in a cage. Then she comes back and opens the pen’s door for them. Wonwoo follows her in, but Mingyu stays back, because they don’t really know what to expect and he has Nari. 

Which is a good thing, because the minute Wonwoo steps inside the circle, he’s attacked by about a million tiny dogs. He freezes and Mingyu laughs behind him, watching the whole scene go down. 

“These are all of our youngest and smallest dogs. We have five dogs that are under the age of one.” the girl explains, pointing to the group of five dogs crowding around Wonwoo. The other, older dogs are less intrigued. “That one is Zeus.” 

Wonwoo looks down at  _ Zeus _ and finds, what he assumes, is a pug. The name isn’t fitting at all and it’s kind of hilarious. Zeus also pees right next to his foot and nope, no, not that one.

“That’s Tia.” Tia is a white, fluffball of a thing and Wonwoo doesn't know what she is but he thinks she might be just a really animated stuffed animal. She’s tiny and if he pets her he’ll probably break her, and he can’t deal with that. 

“Lionel is that one.”  _ That one _ is now sniffing the butt of Zeus and dogs do that, Wonwoo knows this, but he still scrunches his nose at the chihuahua. 

Chihuahua’s are too  _ yippy _ anyways. 

“This is Katie.” the girl points down to a dog that looks like a yellow lab. She’s tiny and cute but really timid, staying towards the back of the group and looking kind of scared. When Wonwoo bends down to pet her, she backs away and hides behind one of the other dogs. 

So maybe not. 

“And this one...well, his name is Steve.” 

_ Steve _ is a pitbull puppy. He’s grey, with bright blue eyes, and looks scared to death. His ears are down and he’s shaking a little. 

Wonwoo ignores the fact that his name is  _ Steve _ and crouches down in front of him, holding out his hand for the dog to sniff before he pets him. Steve practically melts under his hand, going pliant and rolling over onto his back. Wonwoo chuckles and tickles his stomach. 

“We rescued Steve from an underground pit fighting company. He’s only two months old so they didn’t get a chance to teach him anything, but I still have to disclose that information to people considering adopting him.” 

Wonwoo thinks the whole ‘pit bulls are born mean’ argument is bullshit. He believes that it’s the owner that makes the dog, and even though  _ Steve _ is from a shady upbringing, he isn’t scared of the dog at all. 

How could he be? Especially when Steve is batting at his fingers and just genuinely being cute. He feels his chest tighten, the same way it does when he looks at Nari, and he sighs. He turns around to look at Mingyu, and finds the younger already staring down at him, a smile on his face. 

“What do you think?” 

“He’s cute.” Wonwoo isn’t considering any of the other dogs at this point, and Mingyu must know it. 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo sighs again. He looks up at the worker, who’s watching him with a grin plastered to her face. “Can we maybe see how he does with my daughter?”

“Of course! I can take you guys to a separate pen. You can just grab him and follow me.” 

Wonwoo likes how easy-going yet professional this place seems. He smiles and carefully picks the puppy up, cradling him to his chest while he follows the girl out of the pen. She takes him to another pen across the room, which is empty, and then lets them in. 

Wonwoo walks in first, followed by Mingyu. They both sit down on the fake grass, and Mingyu slowly gets Nari out of the car seat, before placing her in his lap. Wonwoo keeps Steve in his lap and then, when the other two seem settled, lets him go. 

Steve immediately walks over to Mingyu. Wonwoo holds his breath while he watches, nervous for whatever reason. The dog is no bigger than Nari, couldn’t do any real damage, but he  _ swears _ if Steve hurts her-

Steve sniffs Nari’s foot, licks her socked toes. Crawls up into Mingyu’s lap and carefully cuddles into Nari. Places his head in her lap, licks her fingers. Wonwoo ignores the way his eyes burn. 

“He likes her.” he murmurs, stating the obvious. He glances up at Mingyu, who looks just as moved as Wonwoo feels. 

Nari pats Steve’s head, lightly, and then just stares at him. Then she shrieks and looks at Wonwoo and fuck, his kid likes the dog, they have to get it now. 

“Yep.” he sighs and stands up. “Think we’ll be taking this one.” 

 

~

 

“Wonwoo, stop crying.” 

Wonwoo has cried more in the past week than he has in his entire 21 years of living. He doesn’t know what’s going on with him but something is wrong and it needs to be fixed. This can’t keep happening. 

“‘M not.” he mumbles as he wipes his eyes. He is though and Jun knows it, Minghao knows it, Mingyu probably knows it and he’s sitting in the living room with Nari. 

“You are, and if you keep crying,  _ I’m _ going to start crying.” Jun says. “It’s not that bad.” 

“You’re  _ moving out.” _ Wonwoo croaks, and yep, there’s more tears streaming down his cheeks. “You hate me.” 

“No we don’t!” Jun hurries to say. “We already told you why!” 

Wonwoo hiccups. His best friend is moving out of the apartment they’ve shared for  _ two years _ now and he is  _ not _ handling it well. 

Jun explained it to him. Thoroughly. He and Minghao were serious now,  _ serious _ serious, and wanted a space of their own. Plus, Nari is in the picture now, and she can’t sleep in Wonwoo’s room for  _ forever. _ Wonwoo needed the extra space. Jun and Minghao need their  _ own _ space. 

“We’ll literally be right next door.” Jun says. “You can bang on the wall and I’ll be over in five seconds.” 

“‘S not the same.” Wonwoo hiccups again. 

“Wonwoo.” Minghao says, speaking up from his end of the table. Wonwoo turns in his chair to face the younger. “I love you, and I love Nari, but this is for the best. Plus, you have  _ Steve _ now-” 

“Stop saying his name like that!” Wonwoo wails. Steve is sitting in his lap, curled up into a ball, and Wonwoo has become fond of him in the past hours he’s had him, thank you very much. Minghao can go choke on a cactus, honestly. 

“I’m just saying-” 

“Okay.” Jun cuts them both off, sighing. “We already signed the lease and everything. And half of our stuff is packed up. This is happening, but I promise, nothing else is changing.” 

“Yeah, whatever. What happened to bros before hoes?” 

“Okay, you literally have a  _ child, _ Wonwoo, and Minghao isn’t-” 

“Besties before testes?”

“Wonwoo-” 

“Mario and Luigi before Thelma and Louise-ee?” 

Jun stops trying to argue back and just stares at Minghao, offering him a long-suffering sigh. Wonwoo pouts. Mingyu cackles from the couch. 

“We’re moving all of our stuff over tomorrow.” 

“I’m bolting the door shut.” 

“I’ll break it down.” 

“You’re going to miss my cooking.” 

“You don’t cook?” Jun stands up from the table and goes to get himself a drink, which ends up being a can of coke, because that’s all they have. “Even if you did, I’d probably already be dead from it, so there’s no way I could miss it.” 

Wonwoo scowls. “I don’t want my daughters room to be a room where you guys had sex.” 

Jun chokes on his drink, Minghao groans and slams his head down against the table. Steve startles in Wonwoo’s lap and if looks could kill, Minghao would be dead right now, Wonwoo is mad that his  _ son _ was rudely woken up. 

“Then switch.” 

“I don’t want my daughters room to be a room where I had sex.” 

“You have not had sex in that room.” Jun snorts. He leans up against the counter top and rolls his eyes. 

“How would you know?” 

“You would have told me. Plus, you’ve gone celibate, and I don’t think it was voluntarily either.” 

Jun exists to embarrass the ever living shit out of Wonwoo, Wonwoo has concluded. He sighs and stands up from his chair at the table, doesn’t bother to push it in before he walks into the living room. 

“I want your things out of here by noon tomorrow.” 

Wonwoo drowns out the sound of Minghao and Jun laughing behind him. Instead, he plops down right next to Mingyu on the couch, and then glares at the younger boy when he starts to laugh as well. 

Mingyu doesn’t stop, though. When does he ever? 

Wonwoo turns back and focuses in on the TV. He pets Steve absentmindedly and just blocks out everything around him, annoyed. That is, until Mingyu pokes his arm, and he’s forced out of his bubble. 

“Did you hear any of that?” 

Wonwoo quirks an eyebrow. 

“Minghao and Jun are going out to dinner.” 

“Great, my two friends, leaving me even on the night before their departure!” 

Jun snorts, loudly, from where he’s tugging his shoes on. Minghao is already out the door.

“We’ll be back soon! Minghao wants Chinese food.” 

“You’re such a pushover!” Wonwoo shouts as Jun is shutting the door behind him. He makes sure to glare, too, but soon the door is closed and he’s left staring at the wood of it in anger. 

Well, not anger. He’s not angry. Or really even annoyed. He’s joking, mostly, but he still kind of chokes up when he thinks about Jun  _ leaving _ him. They’ve been living together for so long, having been roommates in the dorms as well, and Wonwoo doesn’t do well with change, okay? 

“We’ll have a better night in, anyways.” Mingyu’s voice startles Wonwoo, and he jumps slightly, disrupting Steve. The puppy calms down sooner than Wonwoo does, though, and goes back to napping while Wonwoo slows down his heart. 

“Yeah.” 

They’ve already eaten. It’s 7:43 pm and Wonwoo doesn’t know what they possibly could do, but any night in with Mingyu is a good night, so. 

“We could watch a movie?” Mingyu suggests. Wonwoo nods.  _ Yeah, they could do that. _ He grabs the remote off of the coffee table and switches over to Netflix, that way they can browse for something. 

“Any suggestions?” 

“Just not that.” Mingyu points to the screen, which is showing  _ Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. _ That’s all Wonwoo’s been watching lately, because Nari thinks it’s hilarious when the fucking  _ ladybug _ barks. 

“Right.” Wonwoo chuckles nervously, and clicks out of the show. He goes to the comedy movie list instead. “What about now?” 

Mingyu shrugs. “I’m fine with anything.” 

Wonwoo  _ hates _ when he has to choose, but Mingyu always does this, so he sighs and clicks through the list. He’s seen  _ Adventureland _ five thousand times, but if he’s picking, then they’re watching it again. He sets the remote back down and then stands up, clutching Steve to his torso, so that he can grab a blanket.

When he sits back down, Mingyu throws an arm on the couch behind him, and then snuggles Nari into his chest. She’s been asleep on him for an hour, and Wonwoo is hoping that she’ll stay like that for awhile longer, or maybe through most of the night. Who knows? She had a big day, getting a new brother and all. 

Wonwoo settles into the couch and throws the blanket over his shoulders, but then he groans and stands back up again. 

“Forgot the lights.” 

Mingyu snorts, quietly, and Wonwoo rolls his eyes. He flicks the lights off and then sits back down, for  _ real _ this time. He tucks his feet up under his legs and wraps himself up into the blanket, and then leans back into the cushions. The angle is kind of awkward, but it works, and this way Steve is still comfortable in his lap. 

Five minutes into the movie, Mingyu taps his shoulder. Wonwoo looks up at him and raises an eyebrow in question. 

“You can lean on me.” 

_ Oh. _ Wonwoo clears his throat. 

“I’m okay.” 

“You’re all stiff.” Mingyu rolls his eyes. “I have one Jeon on me, might as well have two.” 

And okay, Wonwoo melts at that. He stares at Mingyu for a few seconds before he sighs and shifts his body so that he’s leaning against the younger. And, since he’s feeling generous, he drapes the blanket over the _both_ of them. Steve hardly moves and soon enough he’s in a more comfortable position, with his head pillowed on Mingyu’s chest, right above where Nari is sleeping.   

Mingyu moves his arm down and wraps it around Wonwoo’s side. He shifts Nari a little, that way she’s not right in Wonwoo’s face, and then continues watching the movie as if it’s as simple as that. 

It isn’t. Wonwoo can hardly contain himself and he knows the plot of the movie, could recite it in his sleep, but if someone asked him right now what was going on he wouldn’t be able to tell them. His mind is racing and clogged with all-things Mingyu, god dammit. 

“You can sleep.” Mingyu mutters, and Wonwoo realizes then that he’s just yawned. “I don’t care.” 

Wonwoo cares but then again he  _ doesn’t _ care but he  _ does _ but he still  _ doesn’t _ so he just nods. Mingyu rubs his side. 

_ Fuck me, _ Wonwoo thinks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	8. Chapter 8

Wonwoo blinks his eyes open slowly. There’s a beam of light shining through his curtains and it hits him straight on, flashing across his face and effectively startling him awake. He licks his lips and sits up slowly. 

Or at least, he tries to. An arm around his waist stops him from moving much. He twists around and comes face to face with Mingyu, who’s head had previously been resting on top of his own. They’re still on the couch. Mingyu has his feet propped up on the coffee table, and had been curled around Wonwoo, with Wonwoo practically sleeping on top of his chest.

One thing is missing, though. And that’s Nari. Wonwoo shoots up from the couch almost immediately and damn near sprints to his room. He has enough self control to open his door slowly and quiety, but it takes a lot out of him.

He zones in on his bed the minute the door has swung all the way open. The sight of Nari sleeping soundly in the middle of the mattress, surrounding by pillows and nestled into her sleep sack, should calm Wonwoo down, but he doesn’t. He has to stand there and stare at her for a solid five minutes before he can walk back out into the living room.

When he gets there, he manages to look up at the clock to find the time. It reads ‘6:17’ and Wonwoo panics a little again because Mingyu is still passed out on his couch, when he should have been at work 30 minutes ago. He sighs and walks over to the younger, before gently shaking his shoulder.

“Mingyu.”

Mingyu has never fallen asleep with Wonwoo around, so Wonwoo doesn’t know if the boy is a light sleeper or not. Apparently he isn’t, because he doesn’t move in the slightest. Wonwoo sighs again and shakes him a little harder.

“Mingyu, wake up.”

That gets Mingyu going. He jerks forward a little before his eyes fly open, looking around wildly until his eyes land on Wonwoo. He blinks a few times and then yawns.

He reminds Wonwoo of Steve.  _ Speaking of Steve. _ Wonwoo looks down and finds the small puppy nestled down in between the couch and Mingyu’s thigh, with his head resting in the younger’s lap. He’s snoring slightly and it’s adorable, Wonwoo does have to say.

“Wha- Huh?”

Wonwoo chuckles, quietly.

“You’re late for work.”

Mingyu quirks an eyebrow and turns to face the clock. Once he’s read the time, he turns back around, but there’s a frown on his face.

“I took the next two days off.” he yawns again, and stretches his arms above his head. “Did I not tell you?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. Mingyu sure  _ didn’t _ tell him. He feels bad for waking him up, now, because it’s still early in the morning and they definitely could have gotten another hour of sleep in.

“Well, I did.” Mingyu yawns again. “I wouldn’t have stayed over if I had to go to work in the morning.”

Wonwoo smirks, because apparently Mingyu is a  _ grumpy _ morning person. Or he’s like Seungcheol, and just doesn’t like to talk to anyone before he’s fully awake. Whatever it is, he accepts it and sits back down next to the younger without saying anything else.

“Can we go back to sleep?” Mingyu mumbles. He tugs the blanket back up around his body and then leans into Wonwoo, dropping his head onto his shoulder. Wonwoo’s smirk turns into a shy smile as he throws his arm around Mingyu, tugging him closer so that they’re both more comfortable.

“You can. Once I’m up, I’m up.” he says, and then- “Sorry for waking you up.”

“‘S okay.” Mingyu yawns again and then closes his eyes. Wonwoo takes that as the end of their conversation. He has no idea where his phone is, but the remote is within his reach, so he grabs it and turns the news on because he’s become a middle-aged man trapped in his young-adult body, and if he doesn’t watch the news in the morning, he get anxious.

About an hour later a door opens down the hallway and then, after a few moments, Jun walks out. He’s only wearing sweatpants and his hair is sticking up everywhere, but he looks alert when he meets Wonwoo’s eyes. One of his eyebrows raises.

“He’s still here?”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo shrugs, careful not to disturb Mingyu. Jun lifts his eyebrow even higher and then leans on the countertop, before staring at them. Wonwoo stares back.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Jun shrugs, and places his chin in his propped up hand. “It’s just…”

“Just?” Wonwoo prompts. He rolls his eyes when Jun shrugs again.

“He’s here a lot.”

Wonwoo nods. Jun isn’t wrong. Mingyu  _ is _ here a lot, probably as much as Minghao is, minus when Minghao stays over. Which is every night, Wonwoo doesn’t know if he even still has his own apartment or if he actually officially moved in months ago.

Anyways.

“Yeah?”

“You guys are pretty close.”

Wonwoo sighs. He knows where Jun is going with this; it’s painfully obvious. Jun wiggles his eyebrows everytime he walks past Wonwoo and Mingyu, he isn’t exactly subtle. They just haven’t  _ talked _ about it. Mostly because Mingyu  _ is _ always around, and Wonwoo isn’t about to mention anything with him in earshot. Unless he’s asleep, like right now.

“I’m working on it, okay?” 

“Wait, really?” Jun perks up at this, clearly not expecting the answer. He pushes off of the counter and walks over to the arm chair next to Wonwoo, plopping down into before kicking his feet on the coffee table. Mingyu stirs next to Wonwoo, but just digs his head further into Wonwoo’s shoulder, before going still again.

“Yeah.” Wonwoo sighs. “Slowly.”

“I mean, I assumed you liked him, but…” Jun shrugs. “Are you going to tell him?”

“Maybe? I don’t really know if he likes me back, so…”

Jun rolls his eyes. Wonwoo scowls at him, but waits for his reply.

“He clearly does, or else he wouldn’t be asleep on you right now.”

He points to Mingyu and Wonwoo looks down. Mingyu’s face is squished against his shoulder, his hair everywhere, his tee shirt crumpled and twisted on his body. The blanket is half off of him and his pants are ridden up so bad, his entire right calf is showing. It’s kind of endearing.

“Yeah but he may just be hanging out with me because he likes Nari a lot.”

“If he only stayed around for Nari, he would have left last night the minute he laid her down in your room. But no, he stayed and let you sleep on him. Minghao and I got home late last night and walked in and you were passed out on his chest, and he just smiled at us and continued to rub your back.”

Wonwoo...did not know this. He blushes even though Jun is the only other person awake in the room, and sighs.

Deep down, he knows Mingyu probably likes him back, even if it’s just a little. He’s not dumb, and he’s not naive. Mingyu is affectionate with him, and willingly hangs out with him every single day, and sometimes he says things that Wonwoo questions. It’s a plausible idea, Mingyu liking him back, and Wonwoo is aware of it. This is just a new thing for him, and he doesn’t exactly know how to go about it.

“How did you ask Minghao out again?”

Wonwoo was told, at the time, but it’s been so long that he’s forgotten. He’d ask Soonyoung what to do, because for some reason Soonyoung is pretty good when it comes to things dealing with romance, but he sent Chan on a scavenger hunt when he asked him to be his boyfriend and Wonwoo doesn’t want to do that. Won’t. So he turns to Jun.

“Borrowed his psychology book and didn’t return it for like a month and then asked him to go to dinner with me so I could ‘pay him back’.”

Jun adds the air quotes and Wonwoo snorts.  _ Right. _ Now he remembers, Jun had talked about it for a month afterwards.

“We kind of just...fell into the relationship after that.” Jun continues. “But look, Wonwoo, I think it’s much simpler than that for you and Mingyu. You guys are like...weirdly married, and you haven’t known him for very long, so really you could probably just say ‘hey we’re dating now’ and he’d agree.”

“Yeah but I don’t want to do that.” It’s got to be a  _ little _ better than that. “And what if we’re just really good as friends, but don’t work out as a couple? I don’t want to jump straight into a relationship.”

“Then go on a bunch of dates and see how it works.” Jun suggests. He shrugs and stands up from the chair, stretching. “But I think it will work out.”

Wonwoo nods. The conversation didn’t really get him anywhere, but he feels strangely better about the situation. Maybe, if he’s feeling brave, he’ll bring it up today.

“I gotta go wake Minghao up, we need to start moving our stuff over.” Jun says then, and Wonwoo sighs because  _ right, his best friend is leaving him today. _ “Also, I think I heard Nari talking to herself earlier.”

“Oh, now you tell me?!” Wonwoo whisper-shouts. He slowly detaches himself from Mingyu and then stands up from the couch. He shoots Jun, who’s snickering at him, a glare, before he trudges towards his room. He quietly opens the door, but it’s useless, because Nari is already squirming on the bed, wide awake, when he walks into the room.

“Well goodmorning, happy girl.” he chuckles when he gets to the bed, bending down to pick her up. She squeals and takes her fist out of her mouth and she can’t quite hug yet, but Wonwoo pretends she does when she lays her head down on his shoulder. He grins and kisses her forehead, before turning around so that he can carry her out to the living room.

First things first, he needs to change her diaper. He’s about to do so, grabbing the diaper bag off of the kitchen table and walking over so that he can sit down on the living room floor, when a voice stops him.

“I can change her if you want to make a bottle.” Wonwoo whips around and finds Mingyu, who’s now sitting up on the couch and rubbing at his eyes. He smiles and changes his path so that he can deposit Nari onto Mingyu’s lap, startling the younger boy.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” He places the diaper bag down onto the coffee table and then begins walking into the kitchen. He doesn’t miss the ‘Good Morning, princess’ Mingyu offers Nari, though, and somehow that just makes his entire day already.

It doesn’t take him long to make the bottle; he’s become a pro at it by now. When he’s done he trudges back into the living room, but Mingyu already has Nari nestled in the crook of his arm so he hands him the bottle instead and plops down next to him. He kicks up his feet and pulls Steve into his lap, before watching the pair next to him.

Mingyu has known Nari as long as Wonwoo has, so it’s no wonder that his baby is so close to the younger boy. Still, it makes Wonwoo’s heart flutter every time he sees the two interact. Nari is just as attached to Mingyu as she is to Wonwoo and maybe it should be kind of concerning, considering that nothing is permanent between them and Mingyu at the moment, but Wonwoo can’t help but love it. He hopes it stays that way for a long, long time.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Mingyu asks suddenly, breaking Wonwoo out of his thoughts. Wonwoo shrugs and scratches behind Steve’s ears.

He glances out the window. It’s sunny out, and if he had to guess, it was probably pretty warm too. It’d be a waste to stay inside all day long, but at the moment, all Wonwoo really wants to do is sit on the couch and cuddle up with Mingyu and Nari.

That’s not something he wants to suggest, though, so he shrugs again.

“We could go to the zoo?”

Mingyu had been the one to suggest it, anyways.

“Oh, uh.” Mingyu clears his throat. “I mean...I know I suggested it, but uh, I thought you’d just want to take her.”

Wonwoo’s eyes widen, and he averts his glance down to the ground.  _ Shit, he was wrong, Mingyu  _ doesn’t _ want to hang out with them. _ How is he going to get out of this one?

“No.” Wonwoo licks his lips, looks back up and finds Mingyu’s gaze. “I thought we could all go.”

Mingyu sighs, before he looks back down at Nari. The bottle is nearly empty; the baby must have been starving. Wonwoo feels a little bad for letting her sit in his room awake for so long.

“Just, usually first zoo trips are kind of...significant.”

“And?” Wonwoo presses. Mingyu glances back up at him, giving him a long-suffering look.

“I didn’t think you’d want me there.”

“Why wouldn’t I want you there?” Wonwoo is genuinely confused now. Did he say something? Are his actions not clear enough? “I want you there. You’re coming with us.”

Mingyu chuckles, and nods. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Wonwoo nods.  _ Now that that’s out of the way. _ He stands up from the couch, but not before placing Steve on the empty space of Mingyu’s lap. “I’m going to go take a shower.”

“‘Kay.” Mingyu is done feeding Nari now, has switched her to his shoulder and is burping her. “Um, before we leave, could we maybe stop by my apartment?”

Wonwoo realizes that Mingyu is still wearing his work clothes from the day before. He cracks a smile and nods, before he starts walking towards his room.

“Sure.” and then- “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

Mingyu whips around to face him, still patting Nari’s back lightly. He quirks an eyebrow.

“Can you get her dressed? The toucan outfit is on top of my dresser.”

Mingyu snorts but nods, which has Wonwoo smiling wider. He then continues walking towards his room, where he grabs his towel before heading into the bathroom so that he can shower.

In the past, he had taken long showers. The feeling of the water droplets hitting him, warming his entire body, calmed him immensely and he loved having the time to himself to think. Since he’s had Nari, though, his showers have been cut short. She usually sits in her bouncy seat on the floor while he cleans himself, but even then, his showers don’t normally last more than 10 minutes.

Today is no different. He’s in and out quickly, only taking the time necessary to wash his body and hair before he’s turning the water off and wrapping himself in a towel. Usually he brings clothes in with him, since he has to carry Nari and the bouncy seat out of the bathroom with him, but today he’s forgotten. Which means that he has to walk into his room in just a towel, hair and chest still dripping with water.

It proves to be a mistake, because he and Mingyu have somehow managed to be in his room at the same time. When Wonwoo walks in, the younger boy is changing Nari’s diaper on his bed, the toucan outfit spread out next to her. Wonwoo doesn’t know how to go about this, so he just walks into his room and clears his throat. 

“Hey, um.”

“Oh!” Mingyu whips around, and the minute he sees Wonwoo, his eyes widen. “Sorry! She, uh, wouldn’t burp.”

“It’s fine.” Wonwoo cracks a smile, because Mingyu’s cheeks are the color of a tomato. He’s sure he’s not much better. “I’m just gonna…”

He points to his closet, and before Mingyu has the chance to say anything else, heads straight to it. He throws the door open and begins rummaging around for some clothes, in a hurry to get himself dressed.

He finds a shirt quickly, and then grabs a pair of jeans, before he hustles over to his dresser. There, he grabs a underwear and socks, and then within ten seconds he’s back in the bathroom. He gets dressed quickly, his heart thudding wildly, his hands shaking as he tugs on his clothes.

Gosh, he’s so gone for this kid.

When he reemerges Mingyu and Nari are already back in the living room, but this time, they’re joined by Jun and Minghao. Jun is dressed and sorting through a cardboard box on the dining table, but Minghao still looks half asleep in his pajamas, sitting on the counter with a cup of coffee in his hands.  

“Hey.” Wonwoo greets him, and the younger just nods his way, sipping at his drink slowly. Wonwoo smiles and goes to stand next to Jun, peering down at the box. There are a bunch of knick knacks in it, stuff from Jun’s room that he’s had for ages.

“Hey, we’re heading to the zoo in a bit.” he informs the older, resting a hand on his shoulder. Jun nods and adds another stack of papers to the box.

“You’re not going to stick around to see your best friend off?”

Wonwoo snorts and removes his hand, walking into the kitchen to see if there’s anything he and Mingyu can eat. “No offense, but if I have to watch you guys leave, I’ll probably cry.”

“None taken.” Jun snickers. “But the zoo, huh? That’ll be fun.”

He throws Wonwoo a suggestive look and Wonwoo rolls his eyes, ignoring the boy. He opens the fridge and peers through it’s contents for no more than thirty seconds, before he decides that they have nothing in the house that he can eat for breakfast.

Then it dawns on him that he’s going to have to do the grocery shopping by himself from here on out, and that’s kind of depressing, so he shakes himself of his thoughts and decides that they should probably leave  _ now _ so that he doesn’t actually really cry.

“Oh, hey, also.” Jun stops him from walking into the living room, where Mingyu is busy packing Nari’s diaper bag up. “We’re leaving all of the furniture except for my bed, since we’re just going to use all of the stuff Minghao has in storage from his old apartment.”

_ Oh. _ So Minghao really  _ did _ officially move in a while back. Wonwoo had no idea.

“Okay.” Wonwoo nods. “Even the bedroom stuff?”

“Figured you could use it for Nari.” Jun shrugs. “It’ll still be in there when you get back.”

Wonwoo nods again. He claps Jun on the back once more and then moves into the living room to help Mingyu.

Very few words are said after that. Jun continues to pack up his box, while Minghao doesn’t help, and Mingyu and Wonwoo get Nari ready for the zoo before packing a few bags for the day.

Wonwoo’s mom had sent him a stroller, from Amazon, because he didn’t have one and she had said that they were ‘essential’. He hasn’t used it yet but it’s all set up, sitting in the corner of his room, so he goes to retrieve it because he’s pretty sure it’ll be helpful at the zoo. When he walks back out with it Mingyu smiles at him, and then slings the diaper bag over his shoulder.

“Do we need anything else?” Mingyu asks. Usually Wonwoo is the one asking these questions, so the fact that Mingyu is turning to him for help has him grinning.

He’s getting ahold of this whole ‘dad’ thing, and he couldn’t be happier.

“No, I don’t think so.” They’ve already packed most of Nari’s things into the diaper bag, just to be prepared, and she’s already strapped into her car seat. Wonwoo has a backpack slung over his back with snacks and water bottles in it, plus extra stuff they couldn’t fit into the diaper bag. All that’s left to do is gather their wallets and keys, and then-

_ Steve. _

“What do we do with Steve?” Wonwoo asks. He peers down and finds his puppy asleep next to the TV. All he really does is sleep, but they can’t just  _ leave _ him, and they can’t take him with them…

“We can watch him.” Jun says. Wonwoo looks up and the older is already smiling at him, with Minghao glaring at him from the counter. Wonwoo grins.

“Really?”

“Sure.” Jun shrugs. “He’s cute.”

Jun is right, Steve  _ is _ cute. Wonwoo leaves it at that and then he grabs his phone, wallet, and keys off of the kitchen counter.

“Well, we’re going to head out.” he tells Jun and Minghao, nodding towards the door. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Have fun!” Jun calls as Wonwoo is trailing behind Mingyu and Nari to get to the front door. He pushes the stroller while Mingyu carries the car seat. He throws a wave over his back towards the other two, and then closes the door behind them once they’re out into the hallway.

They make their way down to Wonwoo’s car and pack everything up fairly quickly. Then they head to Mingyu’s apartment, which Mingyu has to direct Wonwoo to, because he’s never been before. Turns out, though, Wonwoo concludes as they’re pulling into the parking lot, that Mingyu lives in the same apartment complex as Soonyoung and Chan. He voices his surprise to Mingyu about this as they’re pulling into a spot near the front of the building about this.

“I had no idea they even lived here.” Mingyu chuckles, shrugging. “It’s a big complex, I only really know the people who live on my floor.”

Wonwoo smiles and shakes his head, because really, he should have known this. He’s surprised he didn’t. Now that he knows where Mingyu lives, he’ll have to come visit more, especially since he’s already familiar with the building.

Mingyu lives up on the fourth floor, so they have to take the elevator to get to his apartment. Wonwoo carries Nari in her car seat, and it’s quiet for the most part, but it isn’t awkward.

He and Nari are led down to the far end of the hallway when they stop on the fourth floor. Mingyu’s apartment is the second from the last one on the left, and it’s a lot fancier than Wonwoo’s apartment, because it has a keypad instead of a lock. Wonwoo knew about this because Soonyoung’s is the same exact way, but he’s still a little stunned when Mingyu quickly types in his passcode and then pushes his way in.

The younger of the two stops right in the doorway, though, which causes Wonwoo to run into his back. It makes him jostle Nari’s car seat,  _ hard, _ and he ends up paying for it because Nari starts crying almost immediately.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Mingyu whips around, concern written across his face. Wonwoo waves him off but then nudges him forward, because he wants to set the baby down and get her out of the car seat as quickly as possible. Mingyu starts walking again, but as soon as Wonwoo is through the threshold he sees why the younger had stopped so abruptly.

Seokmin is sitting on the couch, staring up at them, with the TV running in the background. He’s wrapped up in at least five different blankets, and there’s an empty pizza box sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Wonwoo decides to let Mingyu deal with him, and goes to set the car seat down on the kitchen table, before unbuckling Nari and holding her close to his chest. She calms down almost immediately.

“What are you doing here?” he hears Mingyu ask Seokmin. He turns back around and watches as Seokmin shrugs, gesturing vaguely to the wall next to Wonwoo.

“Vernon stayed over.”

“Oh.” Mingyu nods, understanding whatever Seokmin is trying to tell him. Wonwoo  _ doesn’t, _ but he doesn’t ask either, just bounces and sways with Nari clutched to him. Seokmin seems to notice them then, and smiles, his eyes crinkling and teeth white.

“Hey, Wonwoo.”

“Hi.” Wonwoo greets, offering his own smile. He’s kind of stressed because there are tears still running down Nari’s face, but he can’t help but be friendly with the boy. He likes Seokmin.

“What are you guys doing?” Seokmin asks. He makes no move to get up, though, and Wonwoo kind of figures that this might happen a lot. Seokmin coming over unannounced, that is. He has no idea who ‘Vernon’ is, but judging by the look Seokmin had on his face when he said his name, only bad things come with him.

“Just came to shower real quick and change my clothes.” Mingyu says, already walking down the hallway in the back of the apartment. “We’re going to the zoo.”

“Oh, fun.” Seokmin mumbles. He burrows down into his blankets and leans his head back against the couch. Nothing else is said after that, Mingyu just flashes Wonwoo a grin and then continues down the hallway before he shuts himself into what Wonwoo assumes is his room.

Wonwoo assumes that they might be in the apartment for at least a little while, and he doesn’t want to stand the entire time, so he walks over to the living room with Nari and sits down in the arm chair right next to the couch. He leans back in the chair and holds Nari onto his chest, patting her back until she ultimately calms down and falls asleep.

When he looks back up Seokmin is smiling at them again, but when Wonwoo catches him, he flushes and looks down. Wonwoo holds back his snort.

“So, uh.” Seokmin begins, sighing under all of his blankets. “Mingyu is one of my best friends, but he’s horrible when it comes to talking about his feelings and stuff, so like...are you guys dating?”

Wonwoo’s cheeks heat up, he can feel it, but he shakes his head. “Uh, no.”

“Oh.” Seokmin chuckles, almost nervously. “Seungkwan and I were just wondering. He, uh...usually doesn’t get this attached to people.”

Wonwoo finds this hard to believe, because Mingyu is genuinely one of the nicest and friendliest people he’s ever met. He can’t imagine him not having a lasting affect on every single person he comes into contact with, nor can he imagine him not being, like, close to people.

Still, Seokmin obviously knows him better, has known him longer than Wonwoo has, so the news makes him blush.

“We’re just friends.” Wonwoo mutters, and then, because he’s feeling brave after his conversation with Jun- “I mean, for right now.”

“Ah, so there  _ is _ something there!” Seokmin explains. “You two were way too comfortable with each other when you picked us up. Seungkwan and I joked about you guys being, like, a married couple already.”

Wonwoo chuckles. If  _ Seokmin and Seungkwan _ are picking up on it…

“Seungkwan and Vernon have been dating since high school, and they’re not even as domestic as you guys seem.” Seokmin continues.  _ Ah, so Vernon is Seungkwan’s boyfriend. Makes sense. _ “We weren’t kidding when we said he talks about you all the time. At least three parents have asked him when they can meet his husband and his kid.”

Wonwoo laughs, genuine, this time. He can just imagine Mingyu getting all flustered, trying to talk himself out of that. It makes him giddy.

He’s not sure if everyone just woke up this morning and felt compelled to talk to him about Mingyu today, but he’s not really complaining. If anything, the conversations have given him confidence. Confidence to address the situation, to talk to Mingyu about it in the near future. He’s kind of grateful even.

“But anyways.” Seokmin continues, changing the subject to a story about Mingyu and a dirty diaper he had to change this past week. It’s hilarious and Wonwoo listens intently, the story taking up most of the time it takes for Mingyu to finish getting ready. Seokmin is actually just finishing up when Mingyu walks back into the living room, dressed in a tank top and a pair of skinny, black jeans.

Wonwoo misses the entire last bit of the story. He’s busy staring at Mingyu, mouth pretty much agape as the younger straps a watch onto his wrist and stuffs his wallet into his back pocket.

“Are you really telling him that story? It’s embarrassing.” Mingyu whines, which breaks Wonwoo out of his trance. Seokmin just sits there and nods with a shit eating grin on his face.

“It’s funny.”

“But embarrassing.” Mingyu chuckles and walks over to where he had kicked his shoes off, slipping them back on as he runs his fingers through his hair. It’s half damp and the motion totally catches Wonwoo off guard, causing him to damn-near salivate again. Luckily Mingyu whips around after that and startles him, but that doesn’t stop the blush from consuming his face.

“I was going to make some toast. Do you want some?” Mingyu asks then, walking into his kitchen and pulling out some ingredients. Wonwoo nods, not trusting his voice, and Mingyu smiles at him before getting to work.

It doesn’t take him long to make their toast. Soon enough they’re all packed up again, this time Mingyu holding his own backpack with various things in it that he claims he needs. Wonwoo holds his toast in one hand and Nari’s car seat in his other, and they’re half out the door when Mingyu turns back around and glances at Seokmin.

“Hey, why aren’t you at work?”

“Took the day off. Got no sleep.” Seokmin explains. Mingyu snorts and nods in understanding.

“We’ll be back later, not sure when.”

“‘Kay. I’ll probably still be here.” Seokmin isn’t looking at them now,is staring intently at the television screen, and Mingyu snorts again.

“Alright. Bye.”

Seokmin offers them a wave, and then Mingyu is shutting the door behind them, ushering Wonwoo back to the elevator. He hits the lobby button once they’re both in and then they travel down, comfortable quietness overtaking them again.

Back in the car, Wonwoo starts it up and cranks the AC while Mingyu straps Nari in. He climbs in and buckles up himself, and then Wonwoo pulls out of the parking lot, in a quest to find the zoo.

They don’t have to use the gps system on their phones, which is a miracle. The entire car ride is filled with a throwback playlist on Mingyu’s phone, which they both sing along to, loudly. Nari even cackles and offers her own screams here and there, once she wakes back up, and overall it’s a pleasant trip.

When they pull into the zoo’s parking lot and find a parking lot close to front, Wonwoo realizes that it isn’t busy at all. Which he’s grateful for, because if there’s one thing he hates the most, it’s crowds. He can’t help the smile that overcomes his face when he turns the car off and gets out to start getting everything ready for the day. Mingyu catches on and gives him a look, raising one of his eyebrows.

“It’s not busy.” Wonwoo explains, as he starts to pull Nari out of her car seat. She’ll just sit in the stroller the entire time anyways.

Mingyu snorts. “You’re such an introvert.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo shrugs. He is, but it’s fine. He doesn’t mind.

“But it’s kind of cute.”

_ Apparently Mingyu doesn’t either. _ Wonwoo smiles and blushes and obviously ignores the statement, choosing instead to throw his backpack over his shoulder and grab the diaper bag from the floor, all the while clutching Nari to his side. Mingyu ends up getting the stroller out of the back and popping it open, and Wonwoo places Nari into it when he’s done in the car, strapping her in and pulling the visor up.

“Is her hat in here?” Wonwoo asks, pointing to the diaper bag, and Mingyu nods. Wonwoo opens the bag up and digs the hat out, as well as the baby sunscreen his mom had sent in a  _ care package _ a couple of days ago. He then bends down and straps the hat onto Nari’s head, before he quite literally slathers her in sunscreen. When Mingyu sees the final product he snorts.

“Think you put enough on her?”

“Shut up, I don’t want her to get burnt.” Wonwoo explains, but his cheeks are burning. He stuffs the stuff back into the diaper back and zips it up, before shoving it into the pouch underneath the seat of the stroller.

“Are we good to go?” Mingyu asks then. He’s already holding onto the handle of the stroller, so Wonwoo assumes that he’s going to be pushing it, and nods. He slips his sunglasses on and then starts walking towards the entrance of the zoo, locking his car as Mingyu catches up with him.

The walk to the entrance doesn’t take long. Before he knows it Wonwoo is standing in line for tickets, three people back from the window. Mingyu tries to push him out of the way, claiming that he wants to pay, but Wonwoo wins the fight when he claims that Mingyu is ignoring Nari in the stroller. Mingyu huffs and rolls her away from Wonwoo, going to wait by a statue of a penguin that’s by the front gates, and Wonwoo smirks.

He buys their tickets, as well as a pass so that they can do all of the extra attractions because  _ why not, _ and then goes to join Mingyu and Nari. He hands Mingyu his ticket and then they head towards the gate, where a cheerful old man rips their tickets in half and ushers them through the gate.

And then they’re in the zoo. Wonwoo hasn’t been for years, doesn’t remember the layout, and is almost immediately overwhelmed. He turns to Mingyu and sighs.

“The front has penguins and polar bears.” the younger says on impulse, helping Wonwoo out. Wonwoo nods, but he doesn’t move. “We can start at the polar bears?”

Wonwoo nods again and motions for Mingyu to lead the way, which he does. Wonwoo walks right next to him and after walking around a curve (and making a pit stop at the sea otters, which aren’t out, much to Mingyu’s disappointment) they find the rather large polar bear exhibit. Mingyu leads them over to the glass and parks the stroller right in front of it, before bending down and crouching next to Nari. Wonwoo does the same, on the other side of the stroller, and then begins looking for the polar bear.

Really, Nari might be too young to enjoy the zoo. Wonwoo didn’t google it. She doesn’t know what animals are and will probably fall asleep at some point, but something about taking pictures of her next to the glass, and being with Mingyu, has Wonwoo’s heart clenching. He thinks about this while he looks for the polar bear, which he eventually spots swimming a few feet away from them.

“Oh!” he exclaims, pointing to the animal, which swims right in front of them quickly. He glances over and catches Mingyu smiling, but the real reason he beams is because Nari  _ squeals. _ She bends forward and slaps the glass, and then topples into the tray in front of her because she still can’t sit up on her on. Wonwoo panics and stands up, grabbing the blanket he had packed from the diaper bag and then stuffing it in front of her.

“At least we know she isn’t scared of the animals.” Mingyu chuckles, looking up as Wonwoo adjusts the blanket so that it’s more comfortable for Nari. Wonwoo sighs and nods, even though the idea of her tipping out of the stroller still has him freaking out.

Mingyu stands back up and takes the handle of the stroller again. The polar bear has climbed up onto some rocks and they can’t really see him anymore, so they decide to move onto a new exhibit. They leave the polar bear overpass and head up a hill to where Mingyu says the penguin are.

Except, they don’t quite make it. Wonwoo spots a carousel and points to it, stopping Mingyu in his tracks.

“Should we take her on it?”

Mingyu glances at the carousel, shrugs, and then turns back to Wonwoo.

“We could sit on the little bench thing.” he offers. Wonwoo smiles and nods, and then starts making his way over to the line for the ride. Mingyu parks the stroller in the stroller waiting area and then grabs Nari and the diaper bag, before joining Wonwoo in line.

There aren’t a lot of people in line, so they get to the front fairly quickly. Wonwoo shows the attendant the pass he had bought and then they’re ushered on, having the free reign to choose where they want to sit. Mingyu leads them around back to where a bench is, and plops down in it, saving a spot for Wonwoo. There are two benches, each across from the other, but Wonwoo chooses to sit down right next to Mingyu.

Mingyu holds Nari on his lap, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her upright. She stares around the carousel in awe, her eyes wide and mouth agape. It’s precious and Wonwoo can’t quite handle it. He digs out his phone from his back pocket and brings up his camera app, snapping a photo of the two in front of him. Once Mingyu notices what he’s doing he turns to him and quirks an eyebrow.

“It’s a cute picture.” Wonwoo admits, turning his phone and showing the photo to the younger. Mingyu squints at it but laughs and nods, agreeing.

They don’t have to wait very long for the carousel to start moving, once everyone in line has piled on. The bench they’re in doesn’t move on it’s on, but Wonwoo has never quite been good with spinning things, so he just sits quietly and stares at Nari the entire time. About half way through Mingyu holds her up on his shoulder so that she can see more, and she squeals, waving at the people waiting in line.

Wonwoo cracks up at that, because honestly, his baby is the cutest fucking baby on the planet.

Once the ride is done they climb off, with wobbly legs, and make their way back over to the stroller. Luckily it hasn’t been  _ stolen, _ so they strap Nari back into it and then head towards the penguin exhibit that’s a couple of yards away. It’s indoors and they’re blasted by the AC when they walk through the automatic doors, which Wonwoo is grateful for, because he’s already kind of hot.

The first thing they’re met with is a bunch of penguins that have what looks like yellow hair. Upon reading the plaque next to the exhibit, Wonwoo learns that they’re  _ crested penguins. _ They’re small and kind of cute and Nari squeals again when she sees them, so Wonwoo takes her out of the car seat and holds her up to the window. 

He plants her two little legs down onto the fake rocks in front of the exhibit so that she’s standing, and then holds her waist, while she plants her hands on the glass and stares at the penguins. Mingyu comes to stand by them and together they all watch the penguins swim and run about.

After a few moments one comes to the glass and stares at them for a second. Mingyu takes a picture of it, because Nari’s expression while she stares back at it is kind of hilarious. But then she starts banging on the glass and Wonwoo isn’t sure if she should do that, so he picks her back up and holds her to his hip.

They make their way through the rest of the exhibit after that. They see a lot of different types of penguins, but Wonwoo’s favorite part is the last part, definitely. The last enclosure has emperor penguins and they’re  _ huge _ and kind of mesmerizing to watch. There are a lot of little kids running about in the room, though, and it stresses him out so they don’t stay long.

Once they’re back outside Wonwoo turns to Mingyu. The younger is still pushing the empty stroller, his sunglasses on and his hair blowing messily in the wind. Wonwoo realizes then that he might be a little bit in love (he’s not, they haven’t  _ known _ each other long enough, he keeps telling himself) and turns back around, trying to cover up his obvious blush with a cough.

“Um, where to next?”

“Well, the zoo is split up into an Asia side and an Africa side. All the traditional animals are on the Africa side though.” Mingyu explains. “We can walk to the Asia side, but the walk to Africa is kind of long. We can take the tram there, and there’s this skyline thing we can ride down to where the animals are.”

Wonwoo will never admit it, but he kind of really wants to see the lions. So, he makes the decision to visit Africa, and then voices it to Mingyu. Mingyu nods.

“The tram entrance is somewhere over there.” Mingyu points to the right and Wonwoo doesn’t see anything, but he trusts the younger. He just nods and starts following Mingyu, still holding Nari to his side.

Eventually they do make it to what looks like a line for something. They stand at the back of it, which isn’t very long, and then wait. Wonwoo doesn’t know what to expect but when a big white bus looking thing pulls up, he’s kind of surprised.

They’re ushered on, one by one, after showing their passes to the driver of the tram. Mingyu walks them towards the back where they can put the stroller, and then finds them a bench a few spaces up. They sit down, with Nari sitting on Wonwoo’s lap, his arm clutched tightly around her waist. There isn’t a door separating them from the ground, just a little space they had walked through to get up to the bench, and Wonwoo is kind of terrified he’ll drop his kid off of the tram.

Mingyu notices this and trades places with Wonwoo, that way Wonwoo is sitting on the side of the bench with the barrier. Wonwoo smiles at him and relaxes a little.

A mother with two little kids sits down in the bench in front of them. Her kids are eating some kind of snack and the lady looks stressed. She turns around and flashes Mingyu and Wonwoo a smile, almost as if apologizing for something. Wonwoo smiles back at her.

“Your daughter is adorable.” the lady says then, nodding down at Nari. Wonwoo’s grin widens as he peers down at the baby, who’s happily chewing on her hand.

“Thank you.” he mumbles. He always gets so shy when people say these kinds of things to him, because they don’t quite know the struggle he’s gone through, but they recognize his effort.

“How long have you guys been together?” the lady then asks, gesturing back and forth between Mingyu and Wonwoo. Wonwoo splutters, looking for an answer, but Mingyu beats him to it.

“Not very long.” he says, smiling happily. He throws his arm across the bench behind Wonwoo, leaning towards him a little.

It’s not the answer Wonwoo had been expecting, so it catches him off guard. He glances up at Mingyu but Mingyu won’t meet his eye, just continues to smile at the lady. The lady doesn’t seem to notice Wonwoo’s internal freak out, just continues talking as if it’s nothing.

“Well, you guys are the cutest little family I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you.” Mingyu answers, this time, and then engages the lady in a conversation about her own kids. Wonwoo stays frozen on the bench, and plays with a tag on Nari’s shirt, keeping himself busy.

Soon enough the tram starts moving, and Mingyu wraps up his conversation, because one of the lady’s kids start crying about being scared, or something. So Mingyu turns to Wonwoo and smiles at him, his arm shifting a little so that it’s holding Wonwoo’s shoulders lightly. Wonwoo sucks in a deep breath.

The ride doesn’t take very long.The entire time Wonwoo points out birds that he sees for Nari, who just squeals and grabs at his hands. Mingyu takes a few pictures of them but before they know it they’re arriving at their stop.

Wonwoo sees the skyline before they even get the stroller off of the tram. He squawks and clutches Nari to his chest, almost as if just  _ looking _ at the thing is going to hurt her. He turns to Mingyu, his eyes wild.

“You’re  _ crazy _ if you think I’m taking her on that.”

Mingyu chuckles and pulls the stroller down. He unfolds in and then starts walking, Wonwoo trailing after him hesitantly.

“We take the babies at work on it all the time when we come to the zoo.” Mingyu explains. “Lots of people do it, I promise. You just have to hold her on your lap.”

Wonwoo glances back up at the thing. It’s basically a ski lift. All it has is a bar that comes across your lap, holding you in from dropping to your death. The worst part is that under it is an actual enclosure, which has  _ actual real life animals _ in it. If they fell, they’d probably get eaten.

“We don’t have to, of course.” Mingyu says. “But I promise, it’s safe. No one has ever fallen out of it.”

That does nothing to calm Wonwoo’s nerves. But, he looks over and sees the  _ hill _ they’ll have to climb if they don’t take the skyline, and sighs.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Mingyu says. “We’ll have to leave the stroller up here, but I imagine once we get off you won’t want to put her down anyways.”

Mingyu is right. Wonwoo likely won’t set Nari down for the rest of the day, honestly. He sighs again and peers up at the skyline one more time, before he nods.

“If anything happens, Kim Mingyu, your ass is mine.” he mumbles. Mingyu laughs but nods in understanding. He then leads them over to the line, but before they get in it, he parks the stroller in the waiting area. He grabs the diaper bag over it and slings it over his body, and then leads Wonwoo over to the back of the line.

Like the tram, the line moves quickly. Wonwoo watches as each person gets into the seat. It doesn’t look difficult at all, they just have to sit down as the seat comes around the corner and then the worker will put the thing over their lap, but it still freaks Wonwoo out. Nari might be losing blood from how hard he’s holding onto her, but he doesn’t care. He’d rather that than dropping her.

Once they’re at the front of the line they’re ushered to the loading zone. They’re told to stand on the yellow line and wait, but soon enough a seat whips around and heads towards them. They sit down once it reaches them and then the attendant swings the safety bar over their heads and settles it across their laps. Wonwoo holds onto Nari with both on his arms, and he doesn’t ask, but Mingyu slings his arm across his shoulders and pulls him close.

It’s comforting. Kind of. He’s still freaking out,  _ severely, _ but he feels safer with Mingyu holding him. Mingyu even brings his other hand around and places it on top of Wonwoo’s, which are holding onto Nari’s front. That helps too. He feels like he can breath, at least.

“See, not so bad.” Mingyu nearly whispers, once they start ascending. It  _ is _ bad, but Wonwoo nods anyways. Mingyu chuckles. He picks up on the fact that Wonwoo doesn’t really want to talk at the moment and just sits there, letting the silence consume them.

The view is nice. Sort of, once Wonwoo gets passed the ‘we might not actually die’ part. He can see animals, but he doesn’t dare take his arms away from Nari so that he can point them out. He just stares straight ahead, pretty much, and holds his breath until the ride is over.

Which, unfortunately, doesn’t come as quick as he’d like. Especially since the ride fucking  _ stops _ right when they reach the highest part. He begins to panic, and turns to Mingyu, who looks a little guilty.

“Sometimes this happens.” the younger rushes out, pulling Wonwoo closer. “It’s fine, it’ll start moving again in a minute.”

“Mingyu, no, I want to get  _ down-” _ Wonwoo starts, his heartbeat picking up quickly. He’s going to start  _ crying, _ or something, god dammit.

“Wonwoo, calm down, it’s okay.” Mingyu pleads. It does nothing to help, though, because the lift  _ still isn’t moving. _

“Is it broken? Are we going to be stuck up here? I knew we shouldn’t have-”

“I heard your conversation.” Mingyu says then, cutting Wonwoo off effectively. “With Jun. This morning.”

Wonwoo stares up at Mingyu, confused.

“What?”

“Your conversation, about me. I heard it. I wasn’t asleep.”

Wonwoo clues in and  _ oh. _ He flushes as his eyes go big.

_ Well, that’s one way to avert his attention. _

“Jun is right, I do like you back. And, uh, I wouldn’t have stayed last night if I didn’t want to. If I uh, didn’t want to stay with you that is.”

Wonwoo doesn’t know what to say. He’s still got a death grip on Nari and the lift still isn’t fucking moving, but here this boy is, someone he’s definitely fallen for, sitting right next to him, telling him he likes him back. He’s overwhelmed, to say the least.

“Wonwoo?” Mingyu tries, sounding hesitant. “Are you okay?”

“You...like me back?”

Mingyu huffs out a bit of laughter, and nods. “Yeah, I do. Really do.”

“Oh.” Wonwoo’s mouth is still wide open, and he turns to face forward, trying to process everything. “Like…?”

“Like, I really want to try dating you.” Mingyu explains. “And I really like your kid. But I’ll understand if you don’t want to do that right now, since you have Nari. I heard you say to Jun you didn’t want to jump into a relationship.”

How  _ stupid _ of Wonwoo to say that. He’s practically on a date with Mingyu right now, and nothing that’s ever happened between them has alluded to the idea that they wouldn’t work out. Mingyu is wonderful with his daughter, is caring and kind and sweet, made him  _ toast. _ He’s perfect and Wonwoo was silly to think even for a moment that this wouldn’t work. It’ll work, Wonwoo will make it work.

“No.” Wonwoo says, and then- “I want to jump into a relationship. Right now. Let’s be in a relationship.”

Mingyu chuckles but nods, complying. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Wonwoo nods. “Are  _ you _ sure? I mean, there’s not just me, but there’s also Nari.”

Wonwoo has thought about dating Mingyu for a long time now. So, naturally, he’s read a lot of articles online when Nari is napping, because that’s all he does now. And all of those articles have told him that jumping into a relationship while you have a child might be confusing for them, especially if it doesn’t work out and suddenly the other person is gone.

But, Nari doesn’t know the difference between ‘yes’ and ‘no’, and if they were to break up she’d probably still be too young to even know what was happening. Plus, Wonwoo isn’t in this for just a summer fling, wants this for good, and he thinks that Mingyu might too. So they’re in the clear, as far as he’s concerned. 

He grins up at Mingyu. Mingyu rolls his eyes.

“Of course I am.” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Dating you would be a privilege, and Nari is just icing on the cake.”

Wonwoo blushes and grins, bending his head down because he’s kind of embarrassed. Mingyu is  _ greasy. _ He doesn’t get the chance to be embarrassed for long, though, because Mingyu tips his head back up by his chin and stares down at him.

“I feel like we were already kind of dating anyways. Now we’re just labeling it.” he explains, and Wonwoo nods, agreeing. “And even though we haven’t known each other for very long, I think once you find the right person, it doesn’t even matter. Things just kind of click in place.”

Wonwoo blushes again but doesn’t look away. Mingyu’s hand is still kind of on his chin, but has moved more towards his cheek, cupping it gently.

“Are you going to kiss me?” Wonwoo asks, and not in a mocking way either. He’s genuinely wondering, because Mingyu is really close to him at the moment.

“Do you want me to?”

Wonwoo thinks about it, but not for long. He smiles sheepishly and nods.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Mingyu breaths out, and then leans down and captures Wonwoo’s lips with his own.

It’s kind of cliche, almost like they’re two high school kids riding a ferris wheel at a fair. All they need are some fireworks and they’d be set. But instead they have a wonky ski lift and a baby, who’s still sitting on Wonwoo’s lap, quiet as ever.

When Wonwoo thinks about Nari, he breaks away from the kiss to glance down at her. He finds her already staring up at them, a small smile on her face, almost as if she’s proud. Wonwoo really can’t help it when his eyes well up and a single tear slips down his face.

“Hey, are you crying?” Mingyu asks him, his voice full of concern. Wonwoo sniffles and shakes his head.

“I’m just overwhelmed.” he says, wiping at his cheek. “I love her so much and I really like you and my life is kind of perfect right now, okay? Let me be.”

Mingyu chuckles but pulls him closer to his chest. Wonwoo notices then that the lift has started moving again, is nearly back to the ground, and thanks his lucky stars for Mingyu. That boy is a blessing, and the best at creating distractions.

Wonwoo is so damn thankful for him.

When they eventually do hop off of the lift, they’re met with an array of different signs that lead them to different exhibits. Wonwoo doesn’t know how he should go about things now, since they’ve  _ changed _ since they got on the lift, so he just looks up at Mingyu for help.

But Mingyu surprises him when he links their fingers together suddenly. Wonwoo probably doesn’t do the best job of hiding his surprise, because Mingyu immediately tries to untangle their hands, but luckily Wonwoo snaps out of it and holds his tighter.

“No, I want to.” he just says, and then- “Where should we go?”

Mingyu lets out an an obvious sigh of relief, and then glances up at the signs. There are at least six different paths they could go down, and Wonwoo doesn’t want to go through all of them, so he’s hoping that Mingyu will suggest one or two.

“We can take the lion path, and it wraps around so that we can see the hippos and chimps too, as well as some other animals, and then we can head back up if you want to.” he suggests. Wonwoo grins and nods and then lets Mingyu lead the way.

He really wasn’t kidding when he said that he wanted to see the lions. The walk to the exhibit doesn’t take them all that long, and once they’re there, Wonwoo is fairly positive he’s more excited than most of the kids already there. He walks up to the glass, tugging Mingyu behind him, and plants himself right in the middle, glancing out at the enclosure to look for the lions.

He doesn’t see any, and apparently his disappointment is obvious, because Mingyu laughs at him and wraps his arms around his middle. He hooks his chin over Wonwoo’s shoulder and Wonwoo wonders  _ why the hell they haven’t been doing this all along. _

“Sad?” Mingyu teases, and Wonwoo scoffs, rolling his eyes. “They might just be laying down where we can’t see them.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo agrees. He sighs and Mingyu unwraps himself, before tangling their fingers once again and tugging Wonwoo forward. They walk around the enclosure a little more but again, they don’t find any lions, and eventually have to move on. Wonwoo would be lying if he said it didn’t ruin the whole trip.

Except it kind of didn’t because he’s now holding hands with Mingyu, but still.  _ Lions. _

They next place they head to is the hippo and rhino enclosure. There’s a little overlook area that’s currently abandoned, so Mingyu leads them over to it, and they sit down because during the walk over, Nari had started to get fussy.

“She’s probably hungry.” Mingyu offers, and Wonwoo nods, watching as the younger boy tugs the diaper bag off. He digs through it and finds a bottle, which he quickly fills up with powder and water, before shaking it. He hands it to Wonwoo and it’s almost kind of hilarious how fast Nari takes it.

“Someone was hungry.” Wonwoo mumbles, laughing lightly at how quickly Nari is drinking the bottle. He looks up and finds Mingyu grinning at them, his smile soft.

They sit in silence for a little while, just appreciating each other’s company. There’s a nice breeze and the rhinos and hippos are actually out, so they watch them go about their business. It’s nice. The only thing that sucks is when Nari spits up all over Wonwoo’s shirt when he tries to burp her.

“She probably just ate too fast.” Mingyu tells him, calming him down before he can really start to panic. Wonwoo nods and cleans the mess up, while Mingyu takes Nari and rubs her stomach. After he’s thrown the dirty napkins in the trash can and has mostly gotten it all out of his shirt, he turns back to Mingyu, and finds that Nari has already fallen asleep on his shoulder.

“Wow, we wore her out.” Wonwoo jokes, zipping the diaper bag up and slinging it over his own shoulder. He finds it kind of funny, how many bags they have.

“Yeah.” Mingyu says quietly. “We can head back, we don’t have to see the chimps.”

Wonwoo has no desire to see the chimps anyways, so he just nods. In theory they really haven’t been at the zoo for very long, but to Nari, it must seem like an eternity. Wonwoo doesn’t want her to have to spend her entire nap sleeping on Mingyu’s shoulder, so he just takes Mingyu’s free hand in his again and starts walking back the way they came.

“We don’t have to take the skyline.” Mingyu announces once they’re past the lions (which still aren’t out, much to Wonwoo’s chagrin). “The walk back is mostly downhill.”

Wonwoo nods and so they head that way, towards the hill he had seen, which thankfully  _ is _ actually all downhill. It’s long walk but it’s kind of peaceful, just walking in silence with Mingyu right next to him. Wonwoo cherishes the moment immensely. He’s even a little sad when they get to the bottom of it and find themselves back at the stroller waiting area.

Mingyu doesn’t lay Nari back in her stroller because a) it’s hot, since it’s been sitting out, and b) they’re about to get back on the tram. He just continues to hold her while Wonwoo pushes the stroller over to the waiting line.

They have to wait even less time this go around, which Wonwoo is thankful for, because now that he thinks about it he  _ is _ kind of tired himself. Once the stroller is packed away they step up onto a bench and sit down, ready for the ride back up to the front.

Wonwoo spaces out for most of the ride. He sits pressed up against Mingyu, with the younger’s hand clutched in his own, but they don’t say anything to each other.

When they get back up to the front Wonwoo wastes no time in getting the stroller out. It’s cooled down by now, so Mingyu lays Nari down in it after reclining the seat. He buckles her in and then lays the blanket over her, in order to shield her a little from the wind. Wonwoo bends the visor down so that it blocks out the sun and then they make their way back towards the entrance, hand in hand, and Wonwoo smiles the entire way.

“Anywhere else you want to go?” Mingyu asks him when they’re back by the polar bear exhibit. Wonwoo doesn’t really want to see anything else, but, well, this  _ is _ kind of a significant experience for multiple reasons, so he points to the gift shop.

“I want to get something for Nari.” he explains. Mingyu cracks a smile and nods, letting Wonwoo walk them over to the little shop next to the front gates. They walk in through the automatic doors and are immediately met by a ton of stuffed animals and hats, which are sitting on a rack right next to the door.

Wonwoo bypasses this and instead heads back to the baby section, which he spots the minute they walk in. There are more stuffed animals and hats, but they’re miniature sized,and he finds them all extremely cute. He doesn’t want a hat or a stuffed animal, though. He wants a shirt. So he turns around and comes face to face with a rack of clothing, which he grins at. He hands the stroller to Mingyu and begins fingering through the different shirts, looking for one for Nari.

In the end, he settles on a onesie with penguins on it, because if Nari could pick, that’d probably be her favorite part of the entire day. He grabs her size and then stalks over to the cashier. Mingyu tells him that he’s going to wait outside with Nari, because things are kind of cramped, and then leaves Wonwoo by himself.

Which leaves Wonwoo to get something for Mingyu, too. It wasn’t funny at the time, but he finds a ‘We Survived The Skyline!’ pair of hats and immediately grabs them, throwing them up onto the counter with the onesie. The total isn’t that bad and once they’re paid for he heads back outside and searches for Mingyu and Nari, who are waiting at a picnic table right by the gates.

“Now we can leave.” Wonwoo grins once he reaches them, and Mingyu stands up, smiling back at him. They don’t say anything else as they head back out the car, Nari still passed out in the car seat.

Getting her strapped into her car seat doesn’t take long, and neither does getting everything else packed into the car. They’re leaving soon enough, with the AC blasting and the radio low, quietness overtaking them again.

Wonwoo drives Mingyu back to his apartment, after a quick conversation between them about where they should go next. Nari to needs to be at home, sleeping in a bed, where it’s cool, and Mingyu needs to go home because he’s supposed to go get his car from the mechanic later in the afternoon. Wonwoo doesn’t really want him to go but he has to, so he doesn’t say anything.

When they get to Mingyu’s apartment complex Wonwoo just pulls up to the front, not wanting to get Nari out of her car seat. He parks the car but leaves it running and then turns to Mingyu, sighing.

“I had a lot of fun today.” he admits, blushing slightly. Mingyu chuckles and nods.

“I did too.” he says, and then- “Seokmin is probably still on my couch. Can I tell him? About, you know, us, because I kind of want to scream it to the world…”

Wonwoo wonders why he ever fell for the greasy boy. But, he nods anyways, laughing quietly because he can honestly relate, he just won’t say it out loud.

“Sure.” he says. Mingyu’s grin widens.

“Well, I have to go.” the younger sighs and clicks his seatbelt. “But I’ll text you. And, you know, if sometime you want to go out, just us…”

“Of course.” Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “I’ll get Jihoon to watch Nari, or something.”

“Okay.” Mingyu smiles again. “Can I kiss you again? Before I leave?”

“Yes.” Wonwoo breathes out. He leans in the same time Mingyu does, and then they kiss, just a mess of lips and teeth and it isn’t coordinated at all but Wonwoo still loves it. It feels natural, like this is what he was born to do, what he was meant to do all along.

He pulls away with a sigh but stays close, can still feel Mingyu breath on his cheek. He opens his eyes and finds the younger already staring at him, eyes hooded, nose almost touching his own.

“You’ve ruined me, Jeon Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo grins and places another short kiss on the corner of Mingyu’s mouth, before he pulls away, smiling. Mingyu smiles back and then slowly open the passenger door. He climbs out and Wonwoo thinks that that’s that, he’s going to have to pull away and haul himself home, but then Mingyu opens up the back door and leans over to Nari. He places a kiss on her forehead and smiles down at her, then climbs back out and closes the door, and  _ then _ that’s it.

He waves at Wonwoo, and then walks inside the apartment complex. Wonwoo watches him go and then once the door is closed behind him, slams his head back against his headrest.

He’s ruined Mingyu? Lies. Mingyu has ruined  _ him. _ He’s a gooey mess of  _ feelings _ and it’s both a pleasant and a worrisome experience. If he’s this bad now, how is he going to be in the future? He sighs and pushes the thought to the back of his mind before throwing his car into gear and taking off towards his own apartment.

Once there, he wastes no time in getting everything out. He slings his backpack onto his back, the diaper bag over his shoulder, and then grabs Nari’s car seat. He leaves the stroller in the trunk and is about to head on up when he sees the zoo gift bag.

_ He totally forgot to give Mingyu his hat. _ He sighs and grabs it, and then starts walking towards the staircase, already coming up with a time and place he could give Mingyu the hat.

His apartment is locked once he gets there, which tells him that Jun and Minghao are already moved in next door. And honestly he can’t deal with that right now, he needs to  _ talk _ to someone, he doesn’t fucking care if they’re christening the place or whatever. So, he bypasses his door and goes straight to Jun’s, standing in front of it and banging.

There’s nothing for awhile, and he sighs. He knows they’re in there though, because they have Steve, and would never leave him.

He bangs again.

“Open up, asshole! I have a fucking boyfriend!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	9. Chapter 9

“You know, I kind of feel like an Orange County housewife right now.” 

 Wonwoo glances over at Soonyoung, who’s slipping a headband over his forehead, checking his reflection in the car window. 

"I would too if I was wearing leggings.” 

“They keep the blood flow going.” 

“Sure.” Wonwoo snorts. Soonyoung looks ridiculous, with his patterned leggings and oversized t shirt and sweatband, but nothing he says is going to change the older’s opinion on his outfit so he let’s it be. 

“Besides,” Soonyoung continues then, as they start walking away from their parked cars and towards the nature trail. “-you’re the actual housewife here. How many times have you had lunch ready for Mingyu when he comes over after work?” 

Wonwoo scowls, but he can’t keep the blush from overtaking his face. He’s certainly not going to admit to Soonyoung that he’s made Mingyu lunch every single day for the past week and a half. It’s almost become a routine, and sometimes Wonwoo even finds himself googling new recipes to try when he’s bored. They never really turn out the way he intends them to, but it’s the thought that counts.

“Whatever.” he ends up mumbling, before carefully lifting Nari’s stroller up onto the sidewalk from the pavement. Soonyoung has ahold of Steve’s leash, and the dog’s short, fat little legs hop up onto the sidewalk without much assistance. It’s kind of cute. 

“I’m just teasing you.” Soonyoung says then, sensing that he’s made Wonwoo slightly uncomfortable. “It’s sweet. I wish Chan would make lunch for me.” 

“Chan would rather die.” Wonwoo tells him. And it’s true. Soonyoung is definitely the romantic in their relationship, and while Chan mostly reciprocates his affections, Wonwoo has hardly seen the younger boy go out of his way to do something over the top for Soonyoung. That’s just how they work, though, and Wonwoo doesn’t think that Soonyoung actually minds. 

“You’re probably right.” Soonyoung laughs lightly, nodding. 

They drop the topic after that, choosing instead to start walking down one of the pathways leading into the woods at the nature reserve they’re at. Wonwoo had been bored as all hell after he and Nari woke up this morning, and thought that if he had to wait in the apartment until Mingyu got there, he might actually lose his mind. Thankfully Soonyoung was free to hang out, and after debating on what to do for awhile, they decided to go for a walk. 

Nari’s currently passed out in her stroller, having been lulled to sleep by the car ride over. It’s not that hot out and it’s still early, so Wonwoo isn’t all that worried that she’s going to overheat. He has her little stroller fan, anyways. 

He’s more worried about Steve, who’s padding along next to Soonyoung slowly. The puppy has only been on a few walks since he’s had him, only walking around the block a couple of times when he, Mingyu, and Nari go for night walks. Wonwoo doesn’t know how long Steve is going to be able to last, but he’s prepared to carry him if he has to. 

“So,” Soonyoung begins, breaking his thoughts of his poor puppy, “-what do you have planned for the rest of the day?” 

Wonwoo shrugs. Mingyu gets off at his normal time, but then after that, Wonwoo doesn’t know what they’re going to do. Yesterday they went swimming but Wonwoo doesn’t think they’re going to be doing that again any time soon, because he needs time to recover from seeing Mingyu in swim trunks. 

“Probably nothing.” he admits, because it’s a Friday and despite how much Mingyu loves his job, he’s always tired by the end of the week. Wonwoo hasn’t been dating the younger for very long, but he’s definitely picked up on the fact that Mingyu just kind of likes to cuddle and relax when he’s done with work for the week. 

Which, honestly, he’s totally fine with. 

“Lame.” Soonyoung replies. He stops and lets Steve sniff some flowers, before they continue to walk down the path. Wonwoo has no idea where they’re going but Soonyoung had said that he had been here before, and Wonwoo trusts him, so he just follows along. 

“What are you going to do, then?” Wonwoo asks. He knows Chan is working for most of the day, and Soonyoung is always kind of clueless without him, so he’s curious. 

“Probably nothing too.” Soonyoung snorts. “Chan doesn’t get off until later tonight, he works a double.” 

Wonwoo had always thought that being a waiter really didn’t suite Chan, but to each their own. 

“You know, we’re kind of pathetic.” Wonwoo says then, and Soonyoung glances at him, scowling just a little. “We don’t know what to do with ourselves without our significant others. Except I’m worse, because I haven’t been with Mingyu for very long.”  

“Yeah, but you guys are weird.” Soonyoung explains. “Chan and I were really awkward with each other at first. You guys just...it’s like you’re married.” 

“That’s what Jun said.” Wonwoo thinks back to the conversation he had with the older the night before, when Jun had told him that he sorta kinda maybe wanted to propose to Minghao in the near future. He then explained that there would be no bouquet tossing, obviously, but they’d figure something out and Jun would make sure that Wonwoo caught whatever was thrown so that Mingyu would propose to him next. He also said that even so, it wouldn’t even matter, because they’re already practically married. 

They both had been kind of drunk, but Wonwoo thinks Jun meant most of it. 

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Soonyoung shrugs. “So have you told your parents yet?” 

Wonwoo has not. But it’s not like he doesn’t want to. He just forgets, and every time he talks with his mother on the phone, they spend most of the time talking about Nari. By the end of the conversation Wonwoo has forgotten all about telling her about Mingyu, and so he tells himself that he’ll reveal their relationship during their next conversation, but it never happens. 

“No.” Wonwoo sighs. “I keep forgetting. I might as well just send them a text.” 

Soonyoung snickers, stopping again to let Steve pee. “They seemed to really like him, though. Do you think they’ll mind?” 

Wonwoo shakes his head. “They didn’t care when I told them I had a kid, I highly doubt they’ll mind me dating him.” 

Like he said, Wonwoo hasn’t  _ purposefully _ not told his parents about Mingyu. He doesn’t think they’ll care at all; the timing just hasn’t been right. 

“You’re right.” Soonyoung nods. 

They fall into another silence after that. They’re the only ones on the path, so they go at their own pace, walking slowly so that Steve can keep up without panting too much. About ten minutes later Nari ends up waking up, and starts screaming, and Soonyoung has to push the stroller and walk the dog while Wonwoo feeds his baby. It reminds him of the other night, when he went on a walk with Mingyu, and the younger had to do the same exact thing. 

Except, Wonwoo doesn’t want to kiss all over Soonyoung’s face. Instead, he just laughs when Soonyoung gets tripped up in the leash and pushes the stroller into a bush. 

They had chosen the shortest trail at the beginning of their walk, so it doesn’t take them long at all to loop back around to where they had started. By the time they make it back to their cars it’s almost lunch time, which means that Mingyu is nearly done with work. If Wonwoo straps Nari into her car seat a little quicker than he usually does, Soonyoung doesn’t comment on it. 

“Well, I guess this is where we part.” Soonyoung mutters when Wonwoo ducks back out of the back seat, his dramatics coming through. 

“I guess so.” Wonwoo plays along, laughing. He returns Soonyoung’s sweaty hug, before picking Steve up from the ground. “Thanks for walking with us.”  

“Of course.” Soonyoung scoffs, peering into the window of Wonwoo’s car to look at Nari. “I love seeing Nari, and I guess you’re okay too. Plus, your dog is cute.” 

Wonwoo laughs. He scratches behind Steve’s ears, watching as Soonyoung waves to Nari and then walks over to his own car. 

“If you’re free, I was thinking about having everyone over for dinner tomorrow.” Soonyoung tells him, as he opens up his door. Wonwoo shrugs. 

“Sure.”

“Kay. I’ll let you know.” He climbs in and sits down in his seat, but doesn’t shut the door. “I’ll see you later?” 

“Yeah, see ya Soon.” Wonwoo jokes, and Soonyoung rolls his eyes, before shutting his door and turning on his car. Wonwoo snickers quietly to himself but then gets into his own car, placing Steve in the seat right next to Nari. Steve climbs over and rests his head on Nari’s thighs, falling asleep almost immediately after doing so. Wonwoo smiles and turns back around, glancing at the clock on his radio. 

It’s a little after 11, which means that Mingyu has just gotten off. Wonwoo knows that the younger had ridden with Seungkwan to work todau, and he doesn’t have anything else to do, so he figures he might as well call and offer to pick him up. Before he pulls out of his parking spot he dials up his boyfriend’s number and smashes his phone against his cheek. 

Mingyu picks up on the fourth ring. There’s a bit of shuffling around but then his voice breaks through, sounding alert and excited. Wonwoo feels like he might need a nap. 

“Hey! What’s up?” 

“Hi.” Wonwoo bites back a smile as he pulls out of the parking lot. “Nari and I are out, was just wondering if you wanted us to pick you up from work.” 

“Yes.” Mingyu spits out quickly, and it makes Wonwoo giggle.  _ Giggle. _ “I mean, if you don’t mind.” 

“‘Course not.” Wonwoo chuckles, and turns down the road, heading towards the daycare. “We’ll be there in, like, ten minutes.” 

“Can’t wait.” Mingyu mumbles, but it sounds like he’s biting back a smile. Or at least, that’s what Wonwoo assumes. “See you in a bit.” 

“Yeah, see you.” Wonwoo breaths out. He let’s Mingyu end the call and then tosses his phone into the passenger seat, continuing down the road towards the younger’s work. 

He makes it to the daycare in a little under ten minutes. Nari babbles away in the back the entire time, while Steve sleeps on her, completely oblivious to the fact that she keeps patting his head. Wonwoo smiles the entire time, and it only gets bigger when he pulls into the parking lot of the daycare and spots Mingyu sitting on the curb, scrolling through his phone. 

He pulls up right next to him and throws his car into park, snatching his phone from the passenger seat and slipping it into one of his cup holders. He watches as Mingyu stands up from the curb and grins at him. The younger has his backpack slung over his shoulder, the one he brings with him everywhere, so he first goes to the back seat so that he can put it down. 

He opens up the back door, but before he sets his stuff down, he reaches across and places a kiss on Nari’s forehead. She screams, it’s not even a squeal, it’s a full on  _ scream, _ and starts kicking her legs. 

“Hi, Princess!” Mingyu greets her, setting his backpack down and laughing. He then notices Steve, who’s been awoken by the baby and now looks startled, and grabs him. He shuts the door quietly and then hops into the front seat, setting Steve down in his lap and buckling his seatbelt. 

Wonwoo smiles at him and then moves to shift gears, but then freezes when Mingyu reaches across the console and kisses  _ his _ cheek. Almost instantly his face heats up, and there’s no one around to see them, but it still catches him off guard. He lets out a little sigh and then shifts his car into drive, before driving towards the exit of the parking lot. 

“Hi.” he manages, grinning shyly while he glances at Mingyu. Mingyu is already smirking at him, looking far more amused with himself than Wonwoo thinks he should be. 

“Hey.” the younger says back. He’s petting Steve, while occasionally glancing up at the rear view mirror to look back at Nari. “What did you guys do today?” 

“We just went on a walk with Soonyoung.” Wonwoo shrugs. “How was work?” 

“It was...work.” Mingyu snorts. “A kid ate grass and then he threw up.” 

Wonwoo’s eyes widen. He always enjoys listening to Mingyu’s stories about work; they never fail to amaze him. Still, they sometimes worry him, especially when he starts thinking about  _ Nari _ doing some of the things the kids at the daycare do. And some of them are  _ bad. _

“Was he okay?” 

“Yeah, he ended up being fine. Seungkwan worked his magic.” 

Wonwoo had recently found out that Mingyu worked in the toddler room, whereas Seungkwan was in charge of the preschool kids, and Seokmin, the infants. Wonwoo has only met Seokmin a couple of times, but he finds it hard to imagine the boy working with babies all day long. He’d like to see that in action someday. 

“But anyways.” Mingyu continues, running his hands down Steve’s back, effectively putting the dog to sleep. “What’s on the agenda for today?” 

Mingyu looks more lively than he normally does on Friday’s. Wonwoo has already prepared himself for a quiet day in, though, so he’s slightly worried that Mingyu will want to actually go out and do something. 

He really is ready for a nap. 

“Uh, I don’t know.” Wonwoo admits, shrugging slightly. They’re nearly to the apartment now; he hopes that Mingyu won’t make him turn around. 

“Well, can I make you lunch?” 

That...catches Wonwoo off guard. He’s been told, many of times, that Mingyu is a pretty good cook. However, the opportunity has never occurred, where Mingyu actually cooks him something. It’s mostly because they’re always at Wonwoo’s apartment, but still. Wonwoo would like to try his cooking. 

“Sure.” Wonwoo complies. Mingyu grins at him and then neither of them say much of anything else, choosing instead to listen to the quiet hum of the radio until they’re at the apartment. 

Mingyu ends up carrying Nari up to Wonwoo’s floor, while Wonwoo walks Steve and carries the diaper bag. When they eventually do make it to the door, Steve is panting and Nari is fussy. She probably has a dirty diaper and Wonwoo wants to get into his apartment as quick as possible, that way Nari won’t start screaming in the middle of the hallway. 

It takes him awhile to dig his keys out, though, and it certainly doesn’t help that the minute he finally gets his hands on them the door next to him opens up. Out walks Jun and he grins at them as soon as he sees them, immediately going for Nari. 

“Aw, someone’s sad.” he mumbles, frowning down at Nari while he tickles her stomach. She momentarily stops fussing, happy at seeing her (favorite, Wonwoo hates to admit it) uncle, but it doesn’t last for long. 

Wonwoo, on the other hand, has had a hard time adjusting to not having his best friend living with him still. He scowls at Jun and Jun just rolls his eyes, before locking his door. 

“Going to work?” Mingyu asks the older, which makes Wonwoo scowl even more, because somewhere down the line Mingyu and Jun have become  _ friends. _ Which is worrisome, because Wonwoo doesn’t know what the two of them together are capable of. 

“No, going to meet Minghao for lunch.” 

Minghao is taking summer classes and is almost never home. Jun barely works, Wonwoo doesn’t know why he even has a job, and always seems bored and like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

_ Add him to the list, _ he thinks, thinking back to his conversation with Soonyoung from earlier. 

“Oh.” Mingyu nods and grins at Jun. Wonwoo has just gotten the door unlocked and pushes it open for Mingyu, who throws a wave at Jun and then walks through the threshold. Wonwoo stays in the hallway, though, figuring that Mingyu is more than capable of changing Nari’s diaper. 

“Soonyoung told me he wanted to have everyone over for dinner tomorrow night.” Wonwoo mutters, starting up a conversation with his best friend because, as much as he hates to admit it, he’s grossly attached to the older boy and the thought of him leaving so soon has him feeling  _ sad. _

His mom once told him that he and Jun were going to live next door to each other for their entire lives, because they don’t know how to survive without each other. Wonwoo is starting to believe it. 

“That sounds fun.” Jun smiles. “I can have Minghao make that dip everyone likes.” 

Wonwoo loves _the dip._ He grins and nods.  

“Yeah, sounds good.” 

“And you can bring Mingyu and finally tell Seungcheol you’re dating him!” 

“Have fun on your lunch date!” Wonwoo spits out, and quickly walks into his apartment. He shuts the door in Jun’s face but doesn’t miss the smirk that overtakes the older’s face, nor does it drown out his laughter. He can still hear him even when he’s in the kitchen, and he scowls, his eyebrows drawn together. 

Wonwoo has no problem with the idea of telling his parents about Mingyu. He’s excited, even, because somehow that makes it all the more  _ official. _ He’s not worried at all about their reactions, thinks they might even be overjoyed for him. 

Seungcheol, though? Wonwoo is terrified to tell him. 

Once, during his freshman year, Wonwoo brought a girl he genuinely  _ liked _ to a party that Seungcheol had thrown. She was sweet and really smart, but while half tipsy, had called Joshua annoying. Jeonghan didn’t take it lightly but chose to just ignore her for the entire night, because he’d rather be passive aggressive than confront her. 

Seungcheol, on the other hand,  _ ripped her a new one. _ Wonwoo was genuinely surprised that so much anger could come from the older, but the boy just spent about thirty minutes nitpicking every little thing the girl did, and eventually told Wonwoo not to bring her back. 

Then, at the end of his freshman year, he brought  _ another _ girl to another party (not hosted by Seungcheol this time) as his date, because all of his other friends had someone and he didn’t want to third wheel. Seungcheol had been incredibly harsh on her (not to her face, of course) and that was the end of that short relationship. 

Wonwoo mentioned once, a couple of months back, that he found someone in one of his classes cute. Seungcheol spent their entire two hour break between two of their classes stalking the girl on social media, critiquing everything about her and finding reasons as to why she wouldn’t be good for Wonwoo. 

Joshua told Wonwoo that it was because Seungcheol was overprotective. In reality, though, he’s scarred Wonwoo, enough to the point that Wonwoo is afraid to even say someone is attractive. 

Seungcheol had said that he liked Mingyu, but back then, Mingyu was just Wonwoo’s  _ friend. _ He may have to take a raincheck if Seungcheol ends up coming to the dinner. 

“You okay?” Suddenly Mingyu is standing next to Wonwoo in the kitchen, and Wonwoo realizes that he’s spaced out, his thoughts consumed of every little scenario that’s happened regarding Seungcheol and one of Wonwoo’s dates. He blinks his eyes a few times and then smiles, nodding at Mingyu. 

“Yeah.” 

Mingyu has Nari perched on his hip, the baby no longer wearing pants because Mingyu is also an advocate for the no-pants rule. Wonwoo grins at Nari and takes her into his arms, freeing Mingyu. 

“Okay.” Mingyu chuckles and walks over to the fridge, throwing it open and peering into it. “What are you hungry for?” 

Wonwoo shrugs. He doesn’t even know what he has; he really needs to go grocery shopping. 

“You need to go shopping.” Mingyu says then, voicing Wonwoo’s thoughts as he laughs. “I can make grilled cheese?” 

At this point, Wonwoo would be happy with anything since he’s so hungry. He nods and then lets Mingyu get to it, walking over to the living room. He sets Nari down in her bouncy seat (and doesn’t forget to surround the thing with pillows) and then sits down on the couch, grabbing his laptop from the coffee table and booting it up. 

Before going on his walk with Soonyoung, Wonwoo had been been on Pinterest. That’s another thing he’s been into lately, and it’s kind of embarrassing how many interior design boards he’s created, but it keeps him busy. 

But anyways; he had been looking at different room designs for babies. He knows at some point Nari’s going to need her own room, and since he has one open now, he needs to decorate it. He’s pinned about ten different options and he has time to kill while Mingyu cooks, so he decides to search and pin some more.

The options are endless, really. He doesn’t exactly want to do the standard pink-overloaded room, and he wants to do something that he can keep for her when she’s a little older too, so he’s mostly been pinning neutral colors and designs. 

He’ll have to get permission to paint the walls from his landlord, but he’s really thinking about doing a theme around navy blue. There’s a lot of colors he can pair with it and it’s cute for either a girl or a boy. If not that then maybe a light grey, it just depends. He has time to think about it. 

It doesn’t take Mingyu long at all to make their lunch. He even plates it for Wonwoo and brings it over to him, paired with a glass of orange juice, which he knows that Wonwoo loves. He plops himself down right next to Wonwoo and together they begin to eat their lunch, the TV playing in the background while Nari kicks around in her bouncy seat.

The lunch is simple, just a sandwich and some chips packed onto a plate. When Wonwoo bites down into the grilled cheese, though, it’s anything  _ but _ simple. 

“What’s in this?” he asks Mingyu, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Mingyu glances at him and he looks nervous, shrugging his shoulders slightly before swallowing his own bite. 

“Um, tomato and bacon. You had the stuff in your fridge and I wanted to try something new. Why, is it bad?” 

“What? No.” Wonwoo scoffs, shaking his head. It’s  _ amazing, _ actually. The flavors mix well together and the bread isn’t even burnt. Whenever Wonwoo makes a grilled cheese, he always burns at least one of the slices. 

“Oh.” Mingyu breaths out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I’m glad.” 

Wonwoo snickers at how cute Mingyu is, and then continues to eat his food, shoving it down his throat faster than he probably should. He downs his entire glass of orange juice, too, and soon enough he’s taking his and Mingyu’s plates over to the sink. 

When he sits back down Mingyu scooches over and slings an arm over his shoulders, pulling him into his side and breathing into his hair. Wonwoo smiles and digs down into the cushions, grinning. 

“So I was thinking,” Mingyu begins, taking Wonwoo’s hand and tangling their fingers together, “-that we could go on a date. Like, a real one. Kind of.” 

“Oh?” Wonwoo asks. He slides his thumb back and forth over Mingyu’s, slipping his head into the curve between the younger’s neck and shoulders. Mingyu nods, jostling Wonwoo a little. 

“Yeah. What are you doing tonight?” 

“Was just going to stay in.” Wonwoo admits, shrugging. His life has gotten increasingly more exciting since he’s gotten Nari, but at the same time, he really doesn’t do a lot. He doesn’t remember the last time he actually  _ went out. _ “Why, what were you thinking?” 

“I was _thinking_ that you might need a night out. Seokmin and Seungkwan invited me out with them tonight, and Vernon is going, so I figured it’d be fun if you came too.” Mingyu explains. “I know it’s not just the two of us, but, well…”   

“That’d be fun.” Wonwoo nods. He likes Seokmin and Seungkwan, and if Vernon is anything like them, he thinks he’d probably like him too. “Where were they going to go?” 

“That one club down the street from that barbeque place you like.” Mingyu tells him, and Wonwoo nods, smiling a little at the fact that Mingyu’s memorized one of his favorite places to eat.

“Okay, sure.” Mingyu is right, Wonwoo  _ does _ need a night out. Mingyu grins at him and then nods, before he pulls out his phone, probably to text his friends. 

“Awesome. I think it’ll be fun.” he says. “I’ll probably have Seokmin come pick me up when he gets off work, that way we can both get ready. Then I can pick you up tonight.” 

Wonwoo nods again, agreeing with the plans. He’s good with just about anything at this point.  

The only thing he’s worried about, after thinking for a moment, is what he’s going to do with Nari. Jun and Minghao are always an option, but it  _ is _ Friday and they usually always go out and do something, so that may not work. There’s also Soonyoung and Chan, and Soonyoung  _ did say _ he didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day, but Wonwoo assumes that he’ll probably want to spend the night with his boyfriend once he’s home. 

Then Wonwoo thinks of Jihoon. He doesn’t really know how much Jihoon knows about kids, but if he left a note and set everything out he figures the younger would pick up on stuff quickly. Plus, Jihoon never really goes out, and he probably wouldn’t refuse.

He pulls out his own phone and brings up Jihoon’s contact name, typing out a quick message, asking the younger to watch Nari for the night. 

_ Perfect, _ he thinks. Now he just has to wait. 

 

 

“And if she’s restless or just won’t sleep, you might have to lay her on your chest and just sit with her. She usually falls asleep then.” 

“Okay.” Jihoon nods, a small smile tugging on his lips. 

“Don’t worry about giving her a bath, she had one yesterday. Unless, you know, you  _ have _ to.”

Jihoon nods again. 

“And please, if you need anything, call me.” 

“Would you just leave?” Jihoon jokes, shoving Wonwoo lightly. “Mingyu texted you five minutes ago saying he was here. You already told me all of this stuff, like, twice.” 

“I’m just nervous.” Wonwoo admits. He left Nari with Mingyu when he had to take his finals, but besides that, he’s never been without her. He has attachment issues, it’s normal, and the thought of leaving her for an entire night has him worried. He didn’t think about it all that much when he agreed to go out with Mingyu tonight. Now, he’s kind of freaking out. 

“I know, but we’ll be fine!” Jihoon holds his hands out for Nari and Wonwoo groans, hiking her up on his hip and turning towards her. 

“Have fun with Uncle Jihoon princess.” he mumbles. He’s adopted the nickname from Mingyu, and he really doesn’t  _ mean _ to, but he calls her it a lot now. “I love you.” 

He squeezes her to his chest and places a kiss on her forehead, brushing her hair out of her face before hesitantly handing her over to Jihoon. Jihoon takes her and tucks her into his side and babies are smart, Wonwoo has realized, so it’s really not much of a surprise when her bottom lip juts out and her eyes begin to well with tea. She must sense what’s going on and it kind of breaks Wonwoo’s heart. 

“Okay, nope. I’m calling Mingyu and cancelling.” Wonwoo reaches back for Nari but Jihoon moves her out of his reach, rolling his eyes. 

“Wonwoo,  _ go. _ We’ll be fine, I promise.” He wipes her tears away with his thumb and bounces her a little, smiling down at her softly. “Right, Nari?” 

But Nari just continues to sniffle, her bottom lip trembling as she fists Jihoon’s shirt. Wonwoo is about to snatch his baby away and go lock them in his room, honestly. 

“We’ll have a fun night, and you’ll have a fun night. You just need to go before you start crying or something.” Jihoon teases. Wonwoo sighs and nods, knowing that if he keeps standing here he’ll just want to stay. Mingyu  _ has _ been waiting for a while, is probably worried at this point, so Wonwoo really needs to go. 

“Okay.” he huffs out. “Fine, I’m leaving. Just...I won’t be out that long.” 

“Alright.” Jihoon chuckles. He picks up Nari’s little hand and waves at Wonwoo with it, and Wonwoo coos, before he ducks in and kisses her forehead again. He then makes himself leave, walking out the already-opened door and heading towards the staircase. Jihoon and Nari watch him until he’s out of sight. 

He makes it down to Mingyu’s car quickly, and hops in almost as fast, startling Mingyu. The younger had been staring down at his phone and jumps when Wonwoo opens up the door, causing the older to laugh as he slides into his seat. 

“You scared me.” Mingyu mutters, clutching his chest while Wonwoo buckles his seatbelt. “Honestly, I thought you stood me up.” 

“No way.” Wonwoo snorts, even though that’s what he was planning on doing just a few minutes ago. He would have let Mingyu know, though. “Nari started crying.” 

“Why? Is she okay?” Mingyu sounds panicked and Wonwoo smiles, finding his reaction adorable. He nods his head and Mingyu visibly relaxes, before shifting his car into gear and pulling away from the curb. 

“I think she just picked up on the fact that I was leaving. She’ll be okay though, Jihoon’s got her.” He says this more as reassurance for himself, but Mingyu nods along, agreeing. 

“My poor baby.” he mumbles, though, his mouth turning downwards into a frown. “I wanted to come up and see her but I knew I would have probably canceled and asked to just stay in with you and her.” 

Wonwoo would not have minded that in the least bit, but he doesn’t tell Mingyu this. He just grins and nods like he understands, which he does, and then turns to look out his window. 

The drive to the club doesn’t take them long at all. It’s about five minutes away, by car, and so they arrive fairly quickly. Mingyu finds a parking spot out on the street and then together, with their hands tangled, they walk up to the entrance. They make it through the bouncer easily and then head inside, and Mingyu drags them to the back before they do anything else, in a quest to find his friends. 

Turns out, they’re the last to arrive. It’s a little past eleven and when they walk up to one of the booths in the back of the room, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Seokmin are already there, sipping at their drinks while they talk. They turn towards Mingyu and Wonwoo once they notice them, though, and yell out their greetings. 

Well, Seokmin and Seungkwan do. Vernon stays quiet, just smiling at the bunch. Wonwoo doesn’t recognize him at all but he looks really nice, and he has his arm thrown over Seungkwan’s shoulders and is staring at him kind of fondly, so he thinks he might end up liking him. 

“We’re going to head to the bar.” Mingyu tells his friends before Wonwoo gets a chance to throw out his own greetings, or sit down. The youngers tugs Wonwoo away from their table, heading straight towards the bar, wanting to get drinks before they do anything else. Wonwoo follows along like a lost puppy and only says something when Mingyu asks him what he wants. 

“Uh.” Wonwoo sincerely hopes that Mingyu won’t judge him for not liking beer, because he’s just ordered his own draft. Wonwoo would rather die than drink that wheat tea, though. “I don’t mind. Just...not beer.” 

Mingyu chuckles and turns towards the bartender, telling him to make a screwdriver for Wonwoo. Wonwoo grins upon hearing the name, satisfied with his boyfriend’s choice. 

“Because you like orange juice.” Mingyu explains once he hands the drink over, grinning sheepishly. Wonwoo takes it and because he can’t quite handle how cute Mingyu is, he leans over and kisses his cheek. 

“Thank you.” he says with a smile, and then tangles their fingers together again. Mingyu shrugs and then starts tugging Wonwoo back over to where his friends are, ready to start the night. 

For the majority of the night, they really just sit there and talk with each other. Wonwoo has fun getting to know Seungkwan and Seokmin better, and finds that he really likes Vernon. They have a lot in common and when Mingyu, Seungkwan, and Seokmin disappear to the dance floor because ‘their song’ starts playing, he and Vernon talk amongst themselves and, for a lack of a better word,  _ bond. _

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re here.” Vernon chuckles nervously, before gesturing out to the dance floor. “Those three are...close. Sometimes I’m just left here by myself, it’s nice to have someone to sit with me.” 

Wonwoo snorts. It sounds like when he goes out with Soonyoung, Chan, Minghao, and Jun, except it’s always worse being the odd one out around best friends than it is around couples. 

“I understand.” Wonwoo nods along. “They’re really close, huh?” 

“Seungkwan and I have known them since high school, but those three have always had classes together so he’s way closer to them than I am. Mingyu and Seokmin have been friends since middle school, though.” 

Mingyu has told Wonwoo about how he met Seokmin, but he didn’t know that the two of them had known each other for so long. He certainly didn’t know he had been friends with Seungkwan for so long either. He just assumed that they met during college. 

“Well, you’re all really cool.” Wonwoo admits, not knowing how else to word it. “I’m glad he has good friends.” 

“Yeah, and we’re glad he has you.” Vernon chuckles a little and Wonwoo lifts his eyebrow in question. “Seokmin becomes friends with literally everyone he meets, so Seungkwan and I have never been worried about him. Mingyu though...sometimes he’s kind of reserved, and here lately we’ve been worried that he’s lonely. You came into the picture at the perfect time, and I don’t think we could have found someone better for him.” 

Wonwoo blushes at that, suddenly a little shy. Mingyu is such a friendly person, it’s weird to think that he’s not automatically friends with every single person he comes into contact with. Wonwoo doesn’t get it but he doesn’t question it either, just happy that he’s such a positive light in the younger’s life. 

The three friends come back a little while later, with more drinks and stories about people they found on the dance floor. Wonwoo listens along intently, sandwiched in between Seokmin and Mingyu on one side of the booth. Mingyu has his arm thrown over his shoulder and is talking animatedly about some girl who definitely  _ could not _ dance, Seungkwan adding in bits and pieces here and there to make the story funnier. 

Wonwoo doesn’t drink all that much, and neither does Mingyu, choosing to stop after his second beer because he has to drive. The only one that’s even a little tipsy by the end of the night is Seungkwan, but Vernon is looking out for him, so Wonwoo isn’t worried. 

They stay at the club until around 1:30 in the morning. The party is still going strong down on the dance floor but none of them really have any interest in joining in, so they collectively agree to head out after the last of their drinks are finished. Wonwoo is giddy at the mere thought of going back to Nari, but he doesn’t let it show, because he really has had a nice time. 

Hanging out with Mingyu and his friends has been relaxing, and he’d love to do it again sometime soon. He voices this to the group and they all agree, enthusiastically. Mingyu even suggests merging their two friend groups for a night out and before Wonwoo has a chance to add his input Seungkwan is agreeing, saying that it’s the best idea he’s ever heard. 

Wonwoo is kind of scared because just the thought of Soonyoung being around either Seungkwan or Seokmin, let alone the two of them at the same time, has him fearful. Luckily he has time to prepare himself, though, as they set their next outing date for about a month away since they’re all so busy. 

Goodbyes don’t take that long and before Wonwoo knows it, he’s waving at Seokmin through Mingyu’s car window while the younger pills out of his parking spot. The car ride back ends up being fairly silent, the radio isn’t even playing, but even so it’s pleasant. Comfortable. Wonwoo lets his head rest back against the seat and stares out his window, watching as the street lights pass by.

Like the ride over, the ride back is pretty short, Wonwoo’s apartment being no more than five minutes away from the club. Mingyu pulls into the parking lot and then pulls up to the curb where he had picked Wonwoo up from. He throws his car into park and then turns to Wonwoo, sighing, like saying goodbye to the older is the hardest thing he’s done all day. 

“Did you have fun? It probably was kind of boring, but-”

“I had a lot of fun.” Wonwoo unbuckles himself and turns to face Mingyu, grinning. “Your friends are great.” 

“Yeah?” Mingyu asks, and Wonwoo nods. “They really like you.” 

“I really like them.” Wonwoo admits.  

“You fit right in.” 

Wonwoo snorts but blushes, ducking his head down to hide the red color undoubtedly flushing his face. He doesn’t get away with it, though, because Mingyu lifts his chin with his fingers, his face suddenly very close. 

“I’m glad you came tonight.” 

“Mm. Me too.” Wonwoo mumbles. Mingyu is honestly too close and he’s not doing anything about it, so Wonwoo takes the situation into his own hands and leans forward, connecting their lips. It’s an innocent kiss, with no real heat behind it, but Wonwoo still loves it. 

When they break apart Mingyu leans their foreheads together, grinning brightly. 

“If Nari wasn’t up there right now, I’d ask you to stay.” Wonwoo tells the younger quietly. Maybe next time he’ll have Nari stay with Jihoon for the night, and then get her in the morning. 

The fact that he’s even considering that says a lot about the situation. He really likes Mingyu. 

“I would say yes.” Mingyu breathes out, hot breath fanning over Wonwoo’s face. Wonwoo leans in and kisses him again, and then pulls back and opens up his door before things can go any further. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” he says to Mingyu, and Mingyu nods, watching him get out of his car with a fond expression on his face.  

“‘Kay. I’ll be waiting.” 

“You’re so cheesy.” Wonwoo snorts, but secretly, he kind of loves it. “I really did have fun tonight though. Thank you for inviting me.” 

He’s now talking to Mingyu through the rolled down passenger window, the door having been shut before Wonwoo could climb back in and kiss Mingyu again. 

Mingyu just smiles at him and nods. “Tell Nari I said goodnight, okay? If I came up and saw her right now I wouldn’t leave.” 

Wonwoo laughs quietly this time and nods himself, agreeing to Mingyu’s wishes. He then sighs and steps away from the car, because he  _ really _ needs to head on up and relieve Jihoon of his duties. 

“I’ll see you later.” 

“Yeah.” Mingyu mutters. Wonwoo sighs again, and then forces himself to turn around and walk towards the door to the complex. Mingyu watches him until he gets inside and then drives off, leaving Wonwoo to himself. 

Wonwoo grins the entire elevator ride up to his floor. He’s had a good night, despite having to leave Nari, and he can’t wait until they go out again. He really likes Mingyu’s friends, and he really likes  _ Mingyu, _ and as he thinks about it he wouldn’t mind at all merging their friend groups together to make one. 

Somehow the thought makes everything in his mind so official between him and Mingyu. Except it kind of always has been, so really, it just makes him all the more excited. He can’t wait for more outings like this and he hopes they go on for awhile, forever actually, because Mingyu is special and he’s really, truly glad he’s in his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	10. Chapter 10

Dinner doesn’t happen that Saturday, because Chan has to take someone’s shift unexpectedly and Soonyoung has a meltdown. Wonwoo stays out of it, for the most part, but he can’t really say that he’s all too disappointed. Especially since he gets to spend the night in with Mingyu and Nari, and really, that’s his favorite thing to do anyways. 

It comes back to bite him in the ass, though, because a few days later Seungcheol invites them all over for a pool party because  _ “it’s been a long time since we’ve all seen each other!”. _ (And isn’t it funny, how life deals him these kinds of things? The one person he’s scared of telling, and that’s the apartment they have to go to.)

It goes fine, though, for the most part. Seungcheol takes the news well and even jokes around with Mingyu for the rest of the night, teasing him about their relationship and how it just kinda came out of nowhere.

(It didn’t.)

Wonwoo asks him what the deal is and Seungcheol just says that he has this  _ feeling. _ Wonwoo doesn’t ask anymore questions after that and then just continues to stare at Mingyu, because he has to endure seeing him in swim trunks again and it kind of pains him.

The next day Wonwoo wakes up and his first thought is  _ fuck it, _ and so he calls his mom and spills the news to her, too. She cries and says she’s happy for him and then yells at his dad and then demands that he and Mingyu, and Nari of course, come over for dinner that Friday. Wonwoo is, quite frankly, tired of getting invited to dinners, but he agrees and so they go.

It’s a nice dinner. Not really awkward at all, and Bohyuk only makes one lewd comment. Nari doesn’t leave his mother’s arms and Mingyu says he’s happy at the end of the night, when Wonwoo drops him off at his apartment. Wonwoo considers it a win in his book and decides that maybe having more dinners with his parents wouldn’t be so bad.

And before Wonwoo knows it, he’s been dating Mingyu for nearly two months. Nari is almost six months old, and Wonwoo has definitely gotten the ‘parenting’ thing down, and he’s happy and his baby is healthy and he’s a little bit in love with Mingyu.

Maybe. Wonwoo doesn’t actually know, yet, but sometimes Mingyu does something and Wonwoo’s heart just clenches, and he can’t breathe, and he feels a little bit like he’s dying.

Like right now. Mingyu has Nari in his lap, his arm wrapped around her torso, while they sit in the waiting room of the doctor’s office. Wonwoo can’t stop staring at them, because it’s cute, and Nari hasn’t stopped babbling up at Mingyu for about ten minutes.

Wonwoo’s mom had about ripped him a new one when she found out that Nari hadn’t been to the doctor’s yet ( _ it would have happened eventually, _ he tries to argue). So, he made an appointment, and that’s how he finds himself in the middle of a pediatrician office’s waiting room at 9:30 in the morning on Mingyu’s day off.

“And that’s an elephant.” Mingyu points to the mural of animals on the wall opposite of them, listing off every animal he recognizes. Nari listens, kind of, and bats at his hand when it’s in front of her face. Wonwoo smiles at the two of them the entire time, and takes a picture, because he needs a new background anyways.

Apparently the doctor’s office is backed up, or they’re short-staffed, or something, because they have to wait a pretty long time before they’re called back. Nari starts getting fussy after about 45 minutes so Wonwoo is entirely too grateful when a nurse calls their name and leads them to a room.

The room they’re deposited in is Marvel themed, and the minute Nari sees the figurine mobile hanging from the ceiling, she screams.

“I’m so sorry for the wait.” the nurse tells them as she shuts the door behind Mingyu, laughing quietly at Nari’s outburst. “We’re short-staffed today.”

Wonwoo smiles and nods at her, understanding, but also still kind of annoyed because at this rate lunch is going to be pushed back even further.

“I’m going to take her vitals and then let the doctor know you’re here, okay? If you want to hop up onto the bench with her, that would probably be the easiest, that way she won’t move around so much.”

Mingyu still has Nari in his arms, so Wonwoo turns towards him and takes the baby, before hopping up onto the little bench and adjusting himself on the paper. The last time he was on one of these things was a long time ago, so it’s kind of awkward, but the nurse just grins at him and then gets to work.

She does all of the normal stuff, starting with respirations and pulse first, then taking Nari’s temperature by sticking something in her ear. She doesn’t take Nari’s blood pressure, and Wonwoo doesn’t know a single thing about medicine, but he’s kind of glad his baby girl doesn’t have to have a cuff tightened around her arm.

“Your doctor should be in here soon.” the nurse tells them when she’s done, after she’s typed everything into the computer and has washed her hands. She smiles at Nari once more and then leaves the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Wonwoo sighs and turns to Mingyu. Mingyu grins up at him, and then glances down at Nari.

“She’s doing really good.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo nods. Nari hasn’t fussed at all, not even when the nurse was messing with her. He hugs her a little and places a kiss on the top of her head.

“I hope she’ll be okay during the shots.”

Wonwoo groans. Despite Mingyu knowing everything there is to know about taking care of kids (for the most part), he hadn’t known what to expect from the doctors visit. So, he and Wonwoo sat down together and googled it, finding a detailed explanation from some official website. They learned that at the end of the visit, there would be shots, five of them to be exact, and Wonwoo has been dreading it ever since.

“You might have to hold her during that.” Wonwoo says. He’s not so sure that he’ll be able to handle holding down Nari while she gets poked with needles, especially if she starts screaming or crying. That basically sounds like torture to him.

Mingyu nods and smiles at him, before reaching his hand up and settling it on Wonwoo’s thigh. He keeps it there and then they wait, again, until the doctor comes in.

It doesn’t take the doctor long at all to arrive at their room. She knocks and then opens the door slowly, sticking her head in and grinning brightly at then.

“Hi!” she greets, and Wonwoo can definitely tell that she’s a pediatrician because no normal doctor is ever that cheery. “I’m Dr. Park.”

“I’m Wonwoo.” Wonwoo greets, offering his own smile. “That’s, uh, my boyfriend, Mingyu.”

Dr. Park glances over at Mingyu, and then a huge smile breaks out on her face. Wonwoo lets out a sigh of relief because he had been a little worried that they’d be judged, or something.

“Nice to meet you.” she says, warmly, and then turns back to Wonwoo. She looks down at Nari and her smile stretches from ear to ear, her eyes lighting up. “This must be Miss Nari?”

“Yes.” Wonwoo grins, looking down at his daughter. She’s happily chewing on her Stitch, which Mingyu gave to her after the nurse left. She’s happy so he doesn’t take it back from her, deciding to let her keep chewing on it until it gets in the way.

“She’s absolutely adorable.” Dr. Park coos. She stands back up straight and then walks over to the sink, where she washes her hands and pulls on a pair of gloves.

“I’m just going to do some basic stuff first, okay? You can hold her for this part.”

Wonwoo nods and adjusts Nari on his thigh. Dr. Park pulls out a stethoscope and he figures that Stitch might be in the way now, so he takes it from Nari and hands it back to Mingyu. She whines for a few seconds but then Dr. Park does something with her hands to distract her, which effectively quiets her down.

Dr. Park checks Nari’s heart and lungs first, using the stethoscope on her bare skin. Nari shivers when it touches her stomach and Wonwoo chuckles, carding his fingers through her wispy hair.

Her ears are checked next, and then her mouth, before Dr. Park moves onto her eyes. She shines the light in her eyes and then looks around a bit, before clicking the light off and sighing.

“Wonwoo, does she squint a lot?”

“Um.” Wonwoo swallows the lump in his throat. “Sometimes?”

He’s never really thought much about it, but now that Dr. Park has mentioned it, he  _ has _ caught her squinting a lot when she shouldn’t be. Babies eyesight isn’t always the greatest, though, so he thought it was normal, or at least would be corrected later on.

“I’ve noticed her squinting a lot just while I’ve been in the room. Also, her eyes don’t dilate like normal. Do you or her mother have a family history of eye issues?”

“Her mother isn’t in the picture, and I don’t know her medical history.” Wonwoo admits. “But, um, I wear glasses. I’m far-sighted.”

“One more thing besides looks she may have inherited from you.” Dr. Park stands up and sighs, smiling slightly. “It doesn’t look to be too bad, but she may have some issues with her far sight as well. I would take her to an optometrist to get it checked out.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

“We have an optometrist we usually recommend to parents. I can have a nurse contact them to see when their next available appointment is?”

Wonwoo glances over at Mingyu and Mingyu just shrugs, so Wonwoo turns back to Dr. Park and nods. Dr. Park nods back and goes over to the computer, where she begins to type something up. Once she’s done she takes her stethoscope off and glances at Wonwoo.

“I just sent a notice out to the nurses, they’ll get that taken care of for you.” She stands up from where she had been leaning against the counter, and changes her gloves, since she had been touching the computer. “Now comes some of the harder stuff. Can you take her clothes off for me, and then lay her down on the table?”

Wonwoo hops off of the table and then turns Nari around in his arms. He tugs her shirt off, tosses it to Mingyu, and then lays her down on the table. He then tugs her pants off, tosses those to Mingyu as well, and then puts his hand on her abdomen so that she doesn’t roll off.

“Perfect.” Dr. Park walks up and takes Wonwoo’s place, so Wonwoo reluctantly slinks back. There isn’t another chair in the room (aren’t there always two?) but luckily Mingyu tugs him down to sit on his lap, that way he’s out of the way. Wonwoo leans back against the younger’s chest and Mingyu sighs, placing his hand on Wonwoo’s thigh.

They watch as Dr. Park pokes and prods at Nari, checking her head, stomach, genitals, legs and hips, and her reflexes. She doesn’t say anything and Wonwoo holds his breath the entire time.

“Can I pick her up and set her in the scale?” Dr. Park asks once she’s done, and Wonwoo sits up and nods, watching as she carefully picks Nari up and lays her down in the baby scale. She measures her weight, her height, and the circumference of her head, and then motions for Wonwoo to come back over.

Wonwoo stands up and heads for Nari, immediately picking her up and cradling her to his chest.

“Everything looks good!” Dr. Park says and Wonwoo breathes again for the first time in like, at least five minutes. “You can go ahead and put her shirt back on, but leave her pants off for the shots. I’m just going to ask you a few questions now if you don’t mind.”

“Okay.” Wonwoo mumbles, and Mingyu hands him Nari’s shirt so that he can dress her again. She has goosebumps and he feels bad, so even when she has her shirt back on, he engulfs her in his arms.

He doesn’t really want to sit back on the table, and Dr. Park is young and seems genuinely accepting, so he plops himself back down on Mingyu’s thigh. Dr. Park ends up just smirking at them so he doesn’t move, content with the situation.

“One of the nurses just messaged me back. She got ahold of the optometrist, and you’re actually in luck, they have an opening at 12! Do you want her to schedule it for you?”

That’s going to push lunch back even further, but Wonwoo doesn’t want to deny Nari of  _ fucking seeing _ any longer, so he nods. They don’t have anything else to do today anyways, might as well knock it all out at once.

“Wonderful. I’ll let her know.” Dr. Park continues typing, until she stops completely and turns towards their little group. She smiles and leans back against the counter, crossing her arms, going for a more casual approach.

“So, how is Nari sleeping? She’s napping, correct?”

Wonwoo nods. “She sleeps through the night now, and usually takes two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

“How long do her naps usually last?”

“Two hours? Sometimes the afternoon one is longer if we’ve been out doing stuff.”

“That must be nice for you.” Dr. Park chuckles. “What about eating habits? Have you started her on solids yet?”

Wonwoo blushes at that, stammering a little. He knows he needs to start her on them soon, but he’s been putting it off, for whatever reason.

“Um, not yet.”

“That’s fine. I would start introducing her to some things this week, though. It’s much easier to introduce her early on.”

“Okay.” Wonwoo nods. Looks like they’ll be making a pit stop at the store on their way home, then.

“Is her stool okay?”

Wonwoo nods again. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

“And has she started teething yet?”

She’s cut one tooth and it had stressed Wonwoo out to the max, because all she did was cry and he had to hold ice packs to her gums for hours. Mingyu was his only means of relief,  _ bless him. _

“She has one.”

“Right on track, then! Those will come quicker as she gets older.” Dr. Park uncrosses her arms. “Have you noticed anything questionable about her motor skills? Like, can she roll over?”

Wonwoo nods.

“Does she grab for things? Can she put weight on her legs?”

“Yes and yes.” Wonwoo smiles. “Um, Mingyu works in a daycare, and he knows more about that stuff than me, so he keeps tabs on that.”

“I haven’t noticed anything weird. She seems perfectly fine.” Mingyu adds in. One of his arms is wrapped around Wonwoo, his hand resting over Wonwoo’s own on Nari’s stomach.

“I didn’t notice anything weird either. And she seems engaged and can distinguish between sounds, and she sure is a talker.”

Nari has been babbling aimlessly the entire time Wonwoo has been answering questions. He grins and looks down at her, watching as she plays with his fingers.

“I think you have a perfectly healthy baby, Wonwoo. The only thing I’m concerned with is her eyesight, but the optometrist we’ll make sure everything is good with that after today.” Dr. Park goes back to the computer and begins typing again, probably inputting all of what they’ve discussed into Nari’s chart. “All that’s left are her shots! I’ll send a nurse in with them after I’m done here.”

Wonwoo sucks in a deep breath and nods. Dr. Park finishes up with her notes and then folds in the computer stand. She walks over to the three of them and holds out her hand, which Wonwoo takes, and shakes.

“It was very nice meeting you three. You have an adorable daughter, I wish you guys the best.” She then shakes Mingyu’s hand, before she turns back to Wonwoo and smiles. “You’re doing a great job with her, Wonwoo.”

“Thank you.” he mutters sheepishly. She nods and then heads towards the door, before throwing them a wave and leaving.

Once the door is shut behind her, Wonwoo releases a sigh and leans his head back against Mingyu’s shoulder. Mingyu chuckles and kisses his cheek, before nuzzling the top of his head.

“See? She’s fine, I told you she would be.”

Wonwoo had panicked the entire ride over. He rolls his eyes.

“Her eyes, though.”

“Wonwoo, you’re blind. She’s exactly like you, she was bound to inherit that from you.”

Wonwoo groans and nods, before he lifts his head. He reaches down and picks the Stitch back up from the diaper bag, before handing it to Nari so that she can chew on it again. He then stands up and goes back to the table, so that when the nurse comes in they can do the shots.

They don’t have to wait long for that, either, which Wonwoo is thankful for because he’s ready to just get it over with. They get the same nurse as before, and she throws him an apologetic look while she preps everything.

“I just need you to kind of hold her still, I’ll try to do them as fast as I can.” she explains, and Wonwoo nods, but he throws a nervous glance at Mingyu anyways. Mingyu gets it, stands up immediately, and trades places with him. Wonwoo stalks over to the corner and crosses his arms, biting down on his hand so that he doesn’t say anything.

Mingyu sits up on the table and holds Nari on his lap, his arms kind of bear hugging her so that her own arms can’t move much. She whines,  _ of course she does, _ and jumps a tad when the nurse starts cleaning her leg off with a sterile wipe. Wonwoo would  _ like _ to close his eyes and not watch, but he can’t, because if anything happens to Nari he might actually die.

The nurse sticks the first shot into Nari’s thigh fairly quickly, pushing the stopper down and injecting the  _ stuff _ into her body. Wonwoo grimaces but Nari doesn’t make a noise, just stays frozen in Mingyu’s arms.

The minute the second shot goes in, though, Nari screams and starts sobbing. Wonwoo bites down harder on his hand but moves closer to the table, throwing a look Mingyu’s way. Mingyu looks wrecked, holding Nari in his arms, and Wonwoo is going to have to kiss him a thousand times to thank him for doing this. There’s no way he could sit there and hold her down the way Mingyu is.

Three shots later and the nurse is done, sticking band aides onto all of the needles pricks. Mingyu immediately hands Nari over to Wonwoo and Wonwoo clutches her to his chest, letting her tears drip down his neck as she continues to cry. She’s dry heaving now, hiccupping and sobbing and all, and Wonwoo pretty much breaks, feeling his own eyes well up.

“Feel free to stay in here as long as you need until she’s calmed down.” the nurse offers after she cleans everything up. “When you leave, check out at the front desk. They also have all of the information for her eye appointment.”

“Thank you.” Mingyu tells her, because Wonwoo doesn’t, and then she leaves. Wonwoo continues to bounce and shush Nari, patting at her hair while he tries desperately to get her to calm down. He’s never seen her this upset and every time she chokes on her tears his eyes burn even more.

Mingyu doesn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, but eventually he just wraps the both of them up into his arms, rubbing Wonwoo’s back while Nari cries in between them.

“She’ll be okay.” the younger mutters into Wonwoo’s hair. “It probably scared her more than anything.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo mumbles. Nari has stopped screaming now, but it still crying, her little body shuddering in his arms. “Thanks for holding her.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Mingyu tells him. Wonwoo sighs and nods, leaning into Mingyu a little more.

It takes about 15 minutes for them to completely calm Nari down and get her buckled up into her car seat. Her face is beat red, though, and her eyes are bloodshot, and all of the other parents in the waiting room give them sympathetic looks when they walk by.

Wonwoo checks Nari out while Mingyu goes and gets the car with Nari, that way they can just pick him up at the front. It’s almost 11:45 so they have to book it to the optometrist in order to make it to their appointment.

Which, Wonwoo does have to say, goes a lot better than the doctor’s. The optometrist checks Nari out pretty thoroughly, doing all of the stuff Wonwoo’s eye doctor does to him, and then confirms that yes, Nari  _ is _ far-sighted. He prescribes her some lenses and then Wonwoo and Mingyu pick out a pair of glasses for her on the racks. And,  _ just their luck, _ they have the specific lenses that Nari needs in stock, so they go home with a pair of pink glasses that wrap around Nari’s ears and sit on her face awkwardly.

They look way too big for her even though they aren’t, and Wonwoo finds it adorable. He ends up snapping a picture of her in them and sending it to all of his friends, as well as his mom.

 

**Soonyoung > that’s the cutest fucking thing i’ve ever seen chan and i are coming over tonight to see her**

**Jeonghan > she’s precious, but why is her face all red? Is she okay?**

**got shots today. she’s still sad. <**

**Seungcheol > I bet that poor baby is! I’m coming over too, will pick up Jihoon on the way.**

**Jihoon > i’m working on a project but i’ll gladly come over. can i bring anything?**

**Joshua > so cute. love her.**

**Minghao > jun is in the shower but i went in and showed him the picture and he’ll probs be in ur apartment when you get there**

**Chan > soon wasn’t kidding we’re in the car rn**

**Momma Jeon > The Jeon family eyesight curse has affected my baby! Poor girl. I’ll find her a cute case on Amazon for them. They are pretty adorable, though.**

**Jun > wonwoo did you move the spare key? I’ll climb onto ur balcony and go in thru ur back door where are u**

 

So that’s how Wonwoo finds himself surrounded by all of his friends that night, each one of them cooing over Nari as if it’s the first time they’re meeting her. Jun, because he was the one to get to Nari first, doesn’t let anyone else hold her, and even goes as far as eating with his left hand so that he can keep her on his knee. 

Seungcheol buys pizza for them all and for the most part Wonwoo just stays out of the way, letting his friends mingle about with each other. He stakes out a spot in the kitchen and doesn’t really move unless he has to pee or feed Nari, which only happens once.

Luckily, though, Mingyu stays right by him. He keeps his arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders and together they just stay back, talking to each other and conversing with the occasional person that happens to walk by them. It’s a nice night, even though Wonwoo is  _ tired _ of hosting all of his friends, and by the time they leave he’s happy and his day has definitely gotten better from watching his daughter get shots.

Jun had laid Nari down in Wonwoo’s bed about an hour before the last person left, so she’s been out for awhile. By the time everything in the apartment is picked up and the trash has been cleared away, Wonwoo himself is exhausted, even though it’s only around 10 pm. He just wants to curl around Nari and pass out, but Mingyu is still around, and Wonwoo would be lying if he said that he didn’t want to spend time with the younger.

Mingyu, though, has other plans.

“You’re exhausted, Wonwoo, just go to bed. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Nooooo.” Wonwoo whines. He’s clutching onto Mingyu’s side like a toddler would, and probably even resembles one of Mingyu’s kids at work. He really doesn’t want him to go, though, even though he’s about to fall over out of tiredness.

“Babe, you’re going to fall asleep on me.” Mingyu jokes, though he makes no move to leave. Wonwoo grins, because Mingyu calls him  _ babe, _ but also because he gets his way. Mingyu continues to hold onto him and even presses a kiss to his forehead.

“Stay.”

“Hm?” Mingyu asks, peering down to look at Wonwoo. Wonwoo rolls his eyes and stands up, letting go of Mingyu’s shirt.

“Stay.” he says again, even though he  _ knows _ Mingyu heard him. “Please.”

“No offense but I don’t really want to sleep on your couch.”

“No offense but I don’t really want you to sleep on my couch either.” Wonwoo mutters. “The bed is big enough for the three of us anyways.”

Mingyu  _ literally _ went to Nari’s doctor’s appointment with him, held her while she got her first round of shots with them, Wonwoo thinks it’d be okay if he stayed over with him and Nari. He’s been thinking of an appropriate time to ask the younger to do so for a couple of days now, and now's as good of a time as any, so.

“Are you sure?”

“Do you want to?” Wonwoo asks. He’s suddenly worried that maybe this is taking things too far, they aren’t ready for this, but Mingyu just grins down at him and nods.

“If you want me to, I’d love to.”

“It’s settled, then.” Wonwoo mumbles. He grabs Mingyu’s hand and starts dragging him towards his room, hitting the lights on the way. He’s already locked the front door and they changed before they started cleaning, Mingyu borrowing a pair of his shorts and a tee shirt, so really, they can just flop into bed.

Which they do. Wonwoo climbs onto his normal side, and Mingyu lays down on the other, and then they curl around Nari, clinging onto each other in the process. They form a little circle around Nari and it’s nice, comforting, Wonwoo loves it, he’ll probably never want to sleep with Mingyu ever again.

“It was too late for you to go home, anyways.” Wonwoo says after a few moments, which is a lie, because Mingyu has gone home far later than this. Mingyu just snorts and nods, going along with it.

“Of course.”

“You can make us pancakes in the morning.”

“I’m feeling used right now.” Mingyu jokes, clutching at his chest. Wonwoo snickers, quietly, and then tangles his fingers with Mingyu’s.

“Nah, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Mingyu admits. Wonwoo blushes, thankful that the lights are off so that Mingyu can’t see him.

“And, you know, thank you for coming with me today.”

“I told you, I wouldn’t have rather been anywhere else.”

“I know, but still.” Wonwoo shrugs. They’re whispering to each other, heads close as they bracket Nari in, and Wonwoo can feel Mingyu’s breath ghost over his lips.

“I’m glad you let me come. I’ll always be there for her, and for you.”

Wonwoo leaves it at that, far too stunned to say anything back. He grins and leans forward to kiss Mingyu, no real heat behind it, because they have a baby in between them. When they pull back Mingyu brings his free hand up and brushes Wonwoo’s hair out of his face, smiling at him the entire time.

“Go to sleep, get some rest.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

“And I’ll make you pancakes.”

“You’re the best.” Wonwoo mumbles. Mingyu grins and leans forward to kiss him again, before pulling back and letting his hand drop back down to Nari’s side. Wonwoo watches as Nari immediately latches onto the younger’s finger in her sleep, and he smiles, because everything is so domestic and he’s so,  _ so _ happy.

He falls asleep that night with a smile on his face, and dreams of a future with Mingyu and Nari and Steve and a little house of their own with potted plants and shutters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	11. Chapter 11

“You’ve  _ got _ to be kidding me.” 

Wonwoo looks up at Mingyu from across the breakfast bar. The younger is lying on the couch, Nari sound asleep on his chest. He has one hand holding onto her, while the other is holding his phone over his face. The two of them have been in the same position for nearly an hour, while Wonwoo cleans up the kitchen, because it’s been awhile since he’s done anything to it.

“What’s wrong?”

“My dad is coming.” Mingyu mutters, scowling at his phone. “Like, he’s on his way right now.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Wonwoo asks. Mingyu talks about his dad a lot, he really looks up to him, so Wonwoo doesn’t understand why the younger boy looks so put off at the idea of his father visiting him. “And how far away is he? Is he coming  _ here?” _

“What? No.” Mingyu gives him a look and Wonwoo shrugs. Mingyu still hasn’t told his parents about their relationship, which is fine, but still. If his dad is on the way, Mingyu should probably head home. “I mean, he’s going to my apartment. And he’s probably almost there, he always let’s me know about things last minute.”

Wonwoo watches as Mingyu slowly sits up and switches Nari to his arms. She’s been asleep for awhile, so it’s really no surprise when she wiggles around and whines in her sleep. Mingyu stays still for a few seconds, but it’s of no use, because Nari blinks her eyes open and then starts to cry.

She always cries when she’s startled awake. Wonwoo felt bad the first few times, but it’s kind of cute now, because her eyes go wide and she looks like she has no idea where she is or what’s going on.

“Hi, princess.” Mingyu mutters down to her, brushing her hair out of her face before kissing her forehead. Wonwoo grins at the two of them, setting down his dishrag so that he can join them. He walks into the living room and happily takes Nari when Mingyu offers her to him, before he sits down on the couch next to his boyfriend.

“Are you going to head out, then?”

“I probably should.” Mingyu sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He reaches forward and grabs Nari’s glasses off of the coffee table, handing them to Wonwoo so that he can put them on her face. Both he and Nari are wearing their glasses today, and Mingyu had taken a picture of them, immediately setting it as his lockscreen AND homescreen after saying that he was the luckiest person ever.

Wonwoo sighs, showing his distaste for the situation. Mingyu rolls his eyes at him but leans forward and kisses his cheek anyways.

“You’re dramatic.”

“We were going to have a movie night.” Wonwoo whines. He was really looking forward to eating an entire box of popcorn and watching corny movies with Mingyu, if he’s being honest.

“I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Mingyu tells him, as he stands up from the couch. Wonwoo follows his lead, carrying Nari as he trails behind the younger when he goes to tug his shoes on.

“Okay.” Wonwoo sighs again. “Have fun with your dad, I guess.”

“So sincere.” Mingyu snickers. Once his shoes are on he stands back up and immediately pulls Wonwoo into a hug, trapping Nari in between them. She’s stopped crying for now, thankfully, but definitely isn’t too happy about being stuck in between Wonwoo and Mingyu.

Mingyu pulls away and before Wonwoo can say anything, he leans down and kisses him. Wonwoo kisses him back, briefly, but then breaks it off before things can go  _ too _ far since he  _ is _ still holding Nari. Mingyu laughs at him, and then cups Nari’s cheek, peering down at her.

“See you later, princess.” He kisses her forehead, then drops his hand and looks back up at Wonwoo. “I’ll text you later.”

“‘Kay.” Wonwoo mutters. Mingyu smiles at him and then pulls the front door open. He throws a little wave at Wonwoo and then walks through the door, shutting it quietly behind him.

Wonwoo huffs and trudges back over to the couch. He sits down and then contemplates what he’s going to do now that it’s just him and Nari.

 

 

“Eat it.” Wonwoo pleads, holding the spoon in front of Nari’s closed lips. He introduced her to solid foods a couple of days ago, and for some reason, she just won’t eat it all. They’ve gotten through four spoonfuls of the rice pudding Wonwoo made and it seems to be that Miss Nari is done, even though Wonwoo doesn’t want her to be. 

“It’s really good, mm, yummy!” Wonwoo makes a show of tasting the rice pudding (which he refuses to do for real) and Nari cackles, but when he puts the spoon back up to her lips she still won’t eat it. He groans and drops the bowl and spoon onto the tray of the high chair.

They aren’t going to get any further with the solid food tonight, it seems, so he unstraps Nari from her chair and picks her up so that he can give her a bottle. She’s already had a bath and is in her pajamas, and she usually falls asleep right after her bottle, so really Wonwoo is pretty much free for the rest of the night.

However, Mingyu still hasn’t texted him. It’s going on 9 pm and Wonwoo’s phone has been  _ dry _ (In regards to Mingyu; Soonyoung has been texting him about this new reality TV show for the past two hours). Wonwoo doesn’t really know what he’s going to do once Nari is down for the night, since his nights have mostly consumed of spending time with Mingyu, but he’s sure he can figure something out.

Or at least, that’s what he thought. Once he’s laid Nari down in his bed and sat back down on the couch, all he does is stare at the blank TV for awhile. Apparently he’s so dependant on Mingyu, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

He picks his phone back up and checks his notifications again. There’s nothing, not even a new text from Soonyoung, so he sighs and pulls up his thread with Mingyu. 

 

**how are things going? <**

 

He locks his phone and sets it back down next to him on the couch. To distract himself while he waits for a reply, he gets up to go fix himself something to eat. Lately he’s been relying on Mingyu’s cooking, but since he has to fend for himself, it takes him awhile to search through his fridge. He doesn’t know what to do with half of the ingredients he has, so he eventually settles on a bowl of cereal. All that’s left is  _ Chex, _ he’s not even sure why he bought it in the first place, but it tastes decent when he puts sugar in it so he’s content. 

When he walks back over to the couch, the first thing he does is check his phone. There’s a new text from Soonyoung, as well as one from Jun asking what he’s doing tomorrow, but nothing from Mingyu. When he unlocks his phone it goes straight to Mingyu’s thread, which Wonwoo hadn’t wanted, and he means to just click out of it but then he notices the tiny checkmark next to his message. The time reads ‘9:28 pm’, which was five minutes ago, almost exactly one minute after Wonwoo sent the message.

He huffs and locks his phone again. He figures that Mingyu is probably just busy with his dad, but he can’t help the thoughts that run through his mind.

He finishes his bowl of cereal quickly and then heads to his room after locking up, turning in for an early night.

  
  


“Which walls do you want the whales on?” 

Wonwoo isn’t paying attention to Jun, is instead zoned out and is staring at the wall. He only snaps out of it when Jun whacks him on the arm, causing Nari to cackle and Minghao to chuckle.

“Ow!”

“You’re not paying attention to anything.” Jun tells him, rolling his eyes. “Now which wall are the whales going on?”

Wonwoo sighs and points to the middle wall. Jun nods and then steps over a couple of paint buckets, before he gets to work stenciling the whales onto the wall.

They’re working on Nari’s room. A week or so ago Wonwoo finally decided on a color scheme. He chose mint green and a light coral, with accented grey. It’s different than the standard pink or purple and grey, which Wonwoo likes, but is still girly enough that toddler-Nari can enjoy it. The room really doesn’t have a theme, but they’re putting whales up on the wall, because they’re cute and kind of tie all of the decorations together.

Mingyu was supposed to be the one to paint the whales, because he’s artsy like that, but Wonwoo has had to settle for Jun (who is still artsy, and will do a fine job, but). Wonwoo had only gotten one text from Mingyu since his father’s visit the night before, and that was to inform him that the younger had picked up an extra shift from work and would not be done until 6 pm.

Wonwoo took that as ‘I won’t be able to help today with Nari’s room’, and really, it pissed Wonwoo off because they’ve been planning on working on the room today since last week.

But luckily Jun was available, and Minghao too, and Wonwoo will be okay, this is just a bump in the road. He’ll just have to talk to Mingyu to see what’s going on, that’s all.

“Hey, Wonwoo?” Minghao says, startling Wonwoo out of his thoughts. He turns his head a little to look at the younger boy, finding him pointing down to the ground. Wonwoo follows his finger and about screams when he sees Nari, who’s sitting up all on her own.

It’s been a long time coming and is he tearing up? Yes, he sure is.

“Oh my god.” he mumbles, scooching over to his daughter. Jun has stopped stenciling now and is staring at Nari too, his eyes wide.  

“She just kinda leaned forward and so I pulled the pillow out from behind her, and she leaned backwards and has been sitting like this for awhile. I didn’t want to say anything in case she just fell and wasn’t actually sitting.” Minghao explains. Wonwoo nods at him, barely paying him any attention.

“I can’t believe she’s really doing it.” he mumbles. He feels so proud that she’s finally sitting up on her own, without any support. “Thanks, Minghao. I’ve been too afraid to pull things away from her.”

Minghao just shrugs, but his smile is wide. Jun walks over and crouches down next to the younger, kissing his cheek while he smiles down at Nari.

“She’s getting so big.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Wonwoo mutters bitterly, the first tear slipping down his cheek. Jun gives him a look but doesn’t say anything, just lets him be. Wonwoo sniffles and then slips his phone out of his pocket so that he can take a picture.

He sends the picture to his mom, and then to his group chat with all of his friends. Then he sends it to Mingyu. Mingyu always has his phone out at work, just in case of an emergency, and Wonwoo isn’t supposed to text him unless there is one but he figures Nari sitting up by herself for the first time constitutes as something pretty important.

All he gets back in response, though, is a ‘ **:)** ’. It’s supposed to be a happy moment, but instead Wonwoo’s mood is ruined, and he goes back to scowling at the ground.

“What?”

Wonwoo looks up at Jun and sighs, shrugging.

“All Mingyu sent back was a smiley face.”

“Well, he  _ is _ at work.” Jun tries to reason.  Wonwoo rolls his eyes.

Maybe if Mingyu was anyone else, he wouldn’t mind. But this is  _ Mingyu _ they’re talking about. His replies are always enthusiastic, especially if they’re about Nari. It doesn’t take that long to type out something sincere.

“Did something happen between you guys recently?”

Wonwoo watches as Nari struggles to grab one of her teething rings that’s gotten away from her. He nudges it towards her with his hand, that way it’s easier for her to grab.

“No.” Wonwoo mumbles. “His dad made a surprise visit last night so he had to leave here earlier than expected, but all he’s sent me since then is that text about having to work late and then now the smiley face.”

“Maybe he’s just stressed. He usually would be off by now, he’s probably tired.” Jun offers. He’s trying to make Wonwoo feel better but Wonwoo just shrugs again.

Mingyu never leaves him on read, so him doing so last night kind of put Wonwoo on edge. Now him working late, ruining their plans of working on Nari’s room together, and his vague texts have Wonwoo worrying. He doesn’t want to be that crazy boyfriend that reads too far into things, but he can’t help it.

_ Have I done something wrong, _ he thinks, as he peers back down at Nari.

  
  


Wonwoo glances over at Mingyu, who’s sitting at his spot at the table, pushing his food around in his take out dish. They’ve been sitting in silence for awhile, with Wonwoo feeding Nari her green beans, and Mingyu  _ not _ eating his dinner. It’s kind of awkward and Wonwoo hates the feeling, because nothing has ever been awkward with Mingyu around. 

“So, how was work?”

“Fine.” Mingyu shrugs. “Same old, same old.”

Wonwoo nods. He spoons another bite of green beans into Nari’s mouth. She likes them a lot better than the rice pudding, that’s for sure.

“Do you work late tomorrow, too?”

“Yeah.” Mingyu nods. Wonwoo sighs and turns away from him.

That makes it three days in a row, now. It’s been weird,  _ Mingyu _ has been weird, and Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do. This is the first time he’s seen the younger since all this weird shit has started and quite frankly Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do.

“Is something wrong?” Wonwoo asks suddenly, over the atmosphere. He turns back to Mingyu and finds the younger staring at him, his eyebrow quirked. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” Mingyu is quick to say, shaking his head. “I’m just tired, work has been draining me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Wonwoo mumbles. He’s not really sure if he believes Mingyu whole heartedly, but he’ll take it. He goes back to spooning green beans into Nari’s mouth, who’s waiting patiently, but is obviously a little fed up with how slow Wonwoo is being.

A few minutes pass of more silence, where Wonwoo finishes feeding the baby, and Mingyu continues to pick at his food. In the end the younger ends up throwing most of it out, but is kind enough to package Wonwoo’s leftovers up and put them in the fridge while Wonwoo changes Nari’s diaper and puts her into some pajamas.

“I’m going to take Steve out.” Mingyu says once Wonwoo reemerges from his bedroom, with a polka-dot-clad Nari. He’s on his way to make a bottle and ends up just nodding, letting Mingyu take the leash and hook up the dog. He watches as he leads Steve out of the apartment and then nearly screams when the door shuts behind them.

Jun said that a nice, quiet dinner in with Mingyu would fix everything. That Mingyu would unleash all of his tension and they would be back to normal. Has that happened, though? No, it hasn’t, and honestly Wonwoo just kind of wants to bash his head in. Clearly Mingyu doesn’t want to talk about it, so he’s not going to keep bringing it up, but it’s bugging him.

He sits down on the couch with Nari tucked into the crook of his arm, and begins to feed her her bottle as he flips through the channels on his TV. There’s nothing good on so he settles on a rerun of one of his favorite shows, and then relaxes back into the cushions.

Mingyu comes back about ten minutes later. He has Steve tucked under his arm but sets the dog down as soon as he’s in the apartment, before hanging the leash back up onto its hook next to the door.

“I think I’m going to head out, I’m pretty tired.”

“Oh.” Wonwoo gulps. He hasn’t even put Nari down yet, he had hoped for a little bit of alone time with his boyfriend. “Yeah, okay.”

“Sorry I can’t stay for longer.”

“It’s fine.”  _ It’s totally not fine, _ but Wonwoo won’t admit that. “Call me when you’re done tomorrow?”

Mingyu smiles at him and then walks over to the couch. He bends down and kisses Wonwoo’s forehead, and it makes Wonwoo smile despite the tension. He completely bypasses Nari, though, and so Wonwoo’s smile instantly drops. Usually Mingyu is all over the baby.

“I will.” Mingyu promises him, and then slips his shoes on. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo mumbles. Mingyu waves at him and then quietly slips out the door.

He was over for nearly two hours, but still, Wonwoo feels like he was only around for five minutes.

  
  


Wonwoo scoops another spoonful of applesauce into Nari’s mouth. They’re at the coffee shop that Vernon actually works at, though Vernon isn’t working today. Wonwoo isn’t mad about it; he just needed to get out of the fucking house. 

 

**> sorry. won’t be over today, have some stuff to do :(**

 

Wonwoo scowls down at his phone and then groans, before putting it down on the table a little harder than he needs to. It startles Nari and he sighs, smiling apologetically at her before offering her another bite of her applesauce. 

 

**ok <**

 

He never uses ‘ok’, always sends ‘okay’, but today he is annoyed, so. 

 

**> i’ll make it up to you :(**

 

Wonwoo is tired of hearing that Mingyu will ‘make it up to him’, quite frankly. It’s been a week and nothing has been ‘made up’ to him. In fact, it’s gotten worse, and Wonwoo is kind of over it. 

Mingyu doesn’t come over after work as often as he used to. He doesn’t text Wonwoo all that much unless Wonwoo texts him first. He’s awkward and grumpy sometimes. But honestly, the part that Wonwoo hates the most is the fact that he’s unaffectionate towards Nari. He barely kisses her anymore, doesn’t hold her very often, and Wonwoo hasn’t heard him call her ‘princess’ in what feels like forever.

The door jingles a few feet away from Wonwoo. He looks up and finds Jeonghan walking towards him, grin on his face. The older boy slinks into the booth across from him, and before he says anything to Wonwoo, he turns to Nari and smiles at her.

“She’s gotten so big.”

They haven’t seen Jeonghan or Joshua in awhile. Wonwoo’s glad that the older boy was free today, because he needs someone to talk to, if only to keep him busy for awhile.

“Yeah, she really has.” Wonwoo chuckles. “It’s good to see you.”

Jeonghan shuffles in his chair and then grins back at Wonwoo, nodding. “Yeah, it’s been awhile.”

“So how have things been for you?” Nari is done with her applesauce now, so Wonwoo cleans her face off with a baby wipe and then hands her a toy to play with. She’s content with just sitting in the high chair the coffee shop provided, so Wonwoo lets her be and turns to Jeonghan.

“Well.” Jeonghan begins, and his grin turns into a shy smile. His face turns pink, too, and Wonwoo lifts an eyebrow because he’s not quite following.

“What? What happened?”

Jeonghan answers him in the form of lifting his hand in the air. Wonwoo stares at it for a second and then  _ realizes. _

“Jeonghan! What? When?!”

“Last weekend. It was our five year anniversary, he took me to dinner and then proposed in the park while we were on a walk.”

“Oh my god!” Wonwoo looks back up at Jeonghan’s face, finding the older with watery eyes. “I’m so happy for you! Why didn’t you say anything earlier, though?”

Jeonghan shrugs. “Wasn’t ever the right time. We told Seungcheol, but you’re the only other person we’ve told.”

Wonwoo feels honored, if he’s being honest. He’s also incredibly happy for his friend, and is not even a little bit surprised, because from the minute he met Jeonghan and Joshua he knew they’d end getting married one day.

“Well, I’m really excited for you.” Wonwoo tells the older boy. Jeonghan smiles at him and ducks his head shyly.

“Thank you. We’re both really excited, too.”

“I bet. Have you made any plans yet?”

Jeonghan shakes his head ‘no’. “It’ll probably be a long engagement, since we just graduated and Joshua still has to get through law school, but we’re fine with it.

Wonwoo gets that. He would do the same thing, anyways. He’s about to ask when they’re planning on telling everyone else, because he’s horrible at keeping secrets, but then Jeonghan changes the subject.

“How are you and Mingyu?”

_ The one thing he didn’t want to talk about. _

“You know, me and Mingyu.” Wonwoo chuckles nervously. He messes with the strings on Nari’s baby shoes to distract himself from the fact that Jeonghan is staring at him. 

“What happened?”

“Oh, nothing much.” Wonwoo waves him off. “Not important.”

_ “Yes _ important.” Jeonghan presses. “Really, are you guys okay?”

Wonwoo doesn’t want to ruin Jeonghan’s moment, and he voices this to the older boy, but Jeonghan just rolls his eyes and demands that he tells him what’s going on. 

“It’s nothing, really, he’s just been acting weird.” Wonwoo starts, taking a deep breath. “He’s been working more than he needs to, and he’s been really vague, and he’s kind of been ignoring Nari. It’s awkward with him around, I don’t know what the deal is.”

“Did anything happen to start this?”

Wonwoo really can’t think of anything. He’s been pondering over it for days now, and honestly can’t come up with anything. He tells this to Jeonghan, who just nods his head.

“He may just be tired.” he says, and then- “Or he could be overwhelmed. You guys really did jump into the relationship, if we’re being honest, and I know it’s been hard on you having Nari around but the stress of having to be in the life of someone else’s kid may be getting to him.”

Wonwoo...has not thought about this. Mingyu just jumped into helping him the second he met him, it never crossed his mind that the younger may be overwhelmed by the responsibility.

“That’s true.” Wonwoo nods. “But even so, he won’t talk to me about it. He leaves me on read a lot, and like I said, he’s really vague when I ask him what’s going on.”

“He may not want to hurt your feelings. I’ve only met him a few times, but he’s a kind person. I think the last thing he wants is to hurt you.”

Wonwoo nods. Mingyu is incredibly sweet, so it makes sense. He’s just frustrated, because this could have and can be avoided if Mingyu will just talk to him. He really thought they were pretty good at communicating, but maybe they aren’t.

“It just kind of came out of nowhere.” Wonwoo admits, which he can’t deny at all. One moment they were fine and happy and their normal selves, and then next, Mingyu was ghosting on him.

“It seems like it did, but everything always happens so fast with you two.” Wonwoo likes how Jeonghan doesn’t try to sugar coat anything. “I recommend just giving him some space, he’ll eventually talk to you about it when he’s ready. In the meantime, focus on Nari, it’ll give you something else to worry about.”

Wonwoo nods. He can do that, it shouldn’t be that hard for him. It’s only been about a week anyways, maybe Mingyu is just going through a funk.

“I think you guys will be fine, though. You remind me a lot of Joshua and myself. Quick to fall in love, but just as sincere and passionate.”

Wonwoo nods again. Jeonghan is right, they’ll be fine. Like he said, it’s just a small bump in the road.

  
  


Jeonghan was wrong,  _ is _ wrong, Wonwoo is never listening to him ever again. He glares down at his phone and rereads the text, hoping that Mingyu will send another text saying that he’s just joking. 

 

**> i’m really sorry. i totally forgot, i’m kind of caught up in something right now. I’m really, really, really sorry wonwoo.**

 

It’s their three month anniversary. Wonwoo has never been big on celebrating anniversaries that aren’t a sixth month or a one year, but Mingyu is, so he reserved this dinner for the younger so that they could spend time together.

Wonwoo is currently sitting on his bed, dressed in his best, halfway to pulling his fancy shoes on that he had cleaned specifically for this night. Jihoon is in the living room with Nari, because he was supposed to watch her.

Looks like that won’t be happening, though. Wonwoo runs a hand down his face and throws his phone onto his bed behind him.

He really can’t help it when his eyes begin to well with tears. He’s not sad; he much rather would have wanted to stay in with Nari and Mingyu anyways. No, he’s pissed, and when he gets angry enough, he cries. Which is what’s happening right now.

He shucks his shoes off, dresses himself in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt, and then stalks out of his room. He walks into the living room and plops himself down onto the couch and the minute Jihoon sees him, his face falls.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you dressed?”

“I’m not going.” Wonwoo mumbles. His face still feels hot and when he opens up his mouth to explain, no words come out. Instead, he bursts out into tears, and Jihoon’s eyes widen while he freezes in the middle of the living room.

“Jesus, okay.” the younger boy shuffles around and sets Nari down into her bouncy seat, before he comes over and sits down next to Wonwoo. Wonwoo doesn’t even comment on the fact that Jihoon hasn’t lined Nari’s chair with pillows, just cries into his hands.

“Please stop crying.” Jihoon pleads, hesitantly patting Wonwoo’s back. “What happened?”

“He forgot!” Wonwoo chokes out, and Jihoon sighs, understanding right away. The patting continues for a few minutes while Wonwoo cries out his frustrations with the situation.

Yesterday, Mingyu texted him once.  _ Once. _ And that was to tell him that he couldn’t come over after work because he had stuff to do.  _ Stuff to do. _ He always has stuff to do.

The day before, he came over after he got off at his normal time, but didn’t play with Nari at all. He only held Steve and conversed with Wonwoo about random, irrelevant things.

The day before  _ that, _ he worked another double shift, and didn’t even text Wonwoo at all.

And Wonwoo is sick of it. He’s sick of waiting for Mingyu to decide when he wants to man up and say something. Tonight was the last straw, he’s decided. He’s not putting up with it anymore.

“You know, just...hold on.” Jihoon suddenly stands up and stalks towards the front door. He throws it open and then disappears, and Wonwoo groans into his hands, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. He drawls his knees up to his chest and doesn’t really care how pathetic he looks, because his boyfriend is kind of being an ass and he’s sad.

A few minutes later Jihoon comes back, but this time has Jun trailing behind him. The minute Wonwoo sees his best friend he bursts out into even more tears, and Jun leaves the door for Jihoon to close while he rushes over to the couch.

“Who do I kill?” he asks, seriously, and it’s so  _ not-Jun _ that Wonwoo can’t help but to snort. It sounds more like a sob, though, and so Jun sits down and pulls him into him. Wonwoo clings onto his shirt and cries into his chest, trying his best to calm down even though it doesn’t work.

No one says anything for awhile. Wonwoo kind of feels like a giant baby for being so dramatic, but all of his emotions have been building up for nearly two weeks now, so he thinks he might need this release. Jun doesn’t complain, though, even though the front of his shirt is soaked through. Jihoon remains a calming presence in the arm chair next to the couch, and Nari babbles in her chair, reminding Wonwoo that there are good things in this world.

After he’s calmed himself down enough to actually breathe and talk at the same time, Wonwoo pulls away from Jun, wiping at his eyes.

“Sorry.”

“Shut up. You held me the first time Minghao broke up with me, I’m just repaying the favor.”

_ The first time. _ Wonwoo sincerely wonders how they’ve made it this far.

“Really, though, what happened?” Jun still has his arm around Wonwoo and Wonwoo leans back into him, finding it more comforting and easier to talk when he can’t actually directly see the older boy.

“Mingyu forgot about tonight.” is all he has to say before Jun is huffing next to him. Jun has heard all about Wonwoo’s problems with Mingyu, and over the course of a week, has become not so very fond of the guy. Wonwoo hasn’t even had the heart to try to change his mind.

“He just texted me and said he was caught up in something and forgot.” Wonwoo sniffles, wiping at his nose with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. It might actually be Jun’s, he’s not sure.

“He’s an ass.” Jun mutters. The older boy is not going to offer up any kind of help regarding working things out with Mingyu at the moment, so all Wonwoo can do is shrug and go along with it. Even though he doesn’t exactly disagree right now, because Mingyu  _ is _ kind of being an ass.

“I can fight him for you.” Jihoon mutters from off to the side, and this time Wonwoo actually does laugh. Not because he’s making fun of Jihoon, but because he knows that Jihoon actually will fight Mingyu if he asked him to.

“That’s okay.” Wonwoo answers, though he’s thankful that his friend cares so much. Jihoon shrugs but then goes back to looking uncomfortable, sitting in the armchair and toying with his fingers.

“Hey, Jihoon?” Jun says after a few moments of silence, and the youngest boy looks up, eyes wide. “Can you put Nari down in her playpen for the night?”

It’s rather late; the reservation had been for 9:30, because that’s the only time Wonwoo could make it. Nari has already been fed, bathed, and has had her diaper changed, so she’s ready for bed.  So, Jihoon nods and stands up, and grabs Nari from her bouncy seat. He stops in front of Wonwoo, though, before he heads to the room.

“Goodnight, bug.” he mumbles, and leans in to kiss her forehead. She’s half asleep and barely registers it, but she gives hugs now, so she kind of pats his shoulder. Wonwoo tears up again and Jihoon rushes off before he can start crying.

“What do you want to do about this?” Jun asks once he hears the door shut behind Jihoon. He turns to face Wonwoo head on, and Wonwoo shrugs, not knowing at all.

“I want to talk to him but he said he was busy.”

“It’s your three month anniversary, fuck whatever he’s busy with. Call him.”

Except Wonwoo doesn’t want to just call him out of the blue, so he doesn’t. His phone is still in his room so he has to sneak in and grab it, and on his way back out, he gives Mingyu a heads up.

 

**we need to talk. can i call you? <**

 

He sits back down on the couch and props his phone up in his lap, crossing his legs underneath him. Jun sits huddled next to him, his chin on Wonwoo’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around his torso. It’s quite comfortable and makes Wonwoo feel a lot better, even if he won’t ever admit it. He thinks Jun might know, anyways. 

Wonwoo looks back down and isn’t surprised to see that Mingyu has read his text, but hasn’t replied. He bites his lip and taps on the keyboard again.

 

**mingyu. <**

 

The dots on Mingyu’s side pop up, and then go away, and then pop up again, and then go away again. It happens three more times until finally they stay highlighted, indicating that he’s texting back. 

Wonwoo, nervous for his reply for whatever reason, snuggles into Jun’s chest even more. Jun tightens his hold on his, switching his chin from Wonwoo’s shoulder to the top of his head.

Finally a message, a rather long one at that, pops up onto the screen. Wonwoo takes a deep breath before he reads through it.

 

**> listen, wonwoo, i’m really sorry for doing it like this but i don’t think we’re really working out right now. i like you a lot but i think for right now, we should take a break. it’s just not working and i don’t want to force something that isn’t there. it really isn’t you, it’s me, okay? don’t blame yourself, and maybe things in the future can be different. i hope. **

 

Wonwoo’s never really felt breathless before, in the sense that something so awful, so terrible, has happened to make him speechless, to make him feel like he can’t even breath. Once, Nari fell off of the side of the bed, and he came close to that feeling, but he regained his composure quickly, especially since Nari didn’t even cry. 

So it’s safe to say that the feeling he’s feeling right now is new, and he has no idea what to do. He chokes on any words he intends to say, and then his eyes well up with tears again.

What happened? What did he do to cause this? Mingyu said not to blame himself, but clearly it was something he did, or else Mingyu wouldn’t have become distant in the first place. Did he say something? Was he too pushy, did he try to rush things? He tried to take things slow, tried to consider both of their feelings, but apparently it didn’t work. He’s confused and hurt and feels a little bit like he’s going to throw up, if he’s being honest.

“Do not reply to him.” Jun rips Wonwoo’s phone out of his hands and throws it onto the armchair. “He doesn’t deserve you or your time.”

Wonwoo is still speechless, and then minute Jun wraps his arms around him, he starts crying again. He thought he was out of tears but he isn’t, there are still a lot left, and he’s spilling most of them right now.

“He-he…” Wonwoo tries to say, choking on his words. “This...it...it came out of nowhere. What happened? We were fine, he-”

“He’s a fucking idiot, is what he is. You didn’t do anything wrong, Wonwoo, please calm down.” Jun pets his hair and holds him close, trying his best to calm Wonwoo down.

“But...he...we were so  _ happy.” _

Wonwoo chokes on the word  _ happy, _ the tears falling faster all of the sudden.

“I know.” Jun tries to sooth him, his own eyes prickling with tears at seeing his best friend so upset. Wonwoo feels terrible for getting his shirt all wet and snotty, but he can’t help it. “I know you were. I don’t know what happened, Wonwoo. I wish I could tell you and make it better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It wouldn't be a jacktbfh fic without a proposal/wedding and a failed attempt at drama!
> 
> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	12. Chapter 12

“Can babies have development issues if you hold them too much?” 

Here’s the thing: Wonwoo  _ knows _ that Jun is just joking with him. He’s been trying to joke with him for the past two days, to somehow make things a little better for his friend. Wonwoo hasn’t had  _ any _ of it, though, and his mood surely hasn’t changed today. He glares at the older boy until Jun sighs and leans back in the armchair.

“I’m just kidding.”

“It’s not funny.”

And it isn’t. Wonwoo hasn’t put Nari down since he woke up the morning after receiving  _ the text _ . He holds her when they’re sleeping, holds her when he makes food (or really just gets a glass of water, since he won’t actually eat anything), holds her when he takes Steve out to use the restroom instead of letting Jun watch her. The only time he puts her down is when he has to use the restroom, and he supposes he will when he takes a shower too, but that hasn’t happened yet so they’re in the clear as of right now.

Truth is, Wonwoo isn’t doing so well. He’s gone through breakups before, this isn’t new to him, but for some reason the whole thing just feels so different. Maybe it’s because normally he’s the one breaking up with the other person, instead of being broken up with. Or maybe it’s because of the fact that he never saw it coming. Mingyu had been acting differently but he never thought the younger would actually break things off with him, because for Wonwoo, there was no reason too.

He keeps replaying the last week or so in his mind. Every time he thinks about a specific text, or a conversation, he wonders: was it too much? Was he being too pushy? Did he say something to set Mingyu off? But every time he comes up with nothing, and is left with more questions, because he honestly can’t think of anything that went wrong.

They were happy. Or at least, Wonwoo had thought that they were. He knows it’s soon, and a little crazy maybe, but he was starting to think of them as a little family.

Every time Mingyu left to go home so that he could get up and go to work, Wonwoo always thought the same thing; that he wished that the younger boy could stay, should probably just move in, because it wasn’t as if Mingyu wasn’t there the majority of the time anyways.

Wonwoo always got so worried that they were moving too fast with their relationship, or were taking too big of steps, but when he really sat down and thought about, everything just fell into place on it’s own. They fell into their relationship naturally and that’s probably what’s the hardest for Wonwoo to grasp. How they could go from something so good, something that made them both so happy, to  _ this _ in just a matter of a few days.

“Nothing still?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. He doesn’t want to overwhelm Mingyu, because if Wonwoo knows anything about him, the younger is probably having a hard time right now too. (Which is another reason as to why Wonwoo doesn’t understand any of this, but he’s trying). So he hasn’t tried to spam him with texts and calls and voicemails, has just left it at a few.

“I don’t know, Wonwoo. Maybe you should just give up.” Jun sighs, and Wonwoo prepares himself for a lecture because the older is leaning forward in his chair. “It’s not as if you guys were together for that long anyways. I know you really liked him but if he just threw the relationship away out of the blue like this, then maybe it isn’t worth it.”

Wonwoo stares blankly at Jun, not responding. Jun rolls his eyes.

“You haven’t even showered. I love you, man, so forgive me when I say this but I really think you might be overreacting. He isn’t worth your time.”

Wonwoo stays quiet. He supposes from Jun’s point of view, it makes sense. He and Mingyu haven’t been together for very long, and to an outsider, it may just look like Wonwoo is being clingy and overly dramatic. But they don’t feel what Wonwoo feels, don’t know what Wonwoo is thinking.

The first time that Mingyu stayed over for the night, Wonwoo woke up around 4:30 in the morning. For a long time he stared up at the ceiling, overwhelmed with the fact that Mingyu was  _ next to him _ in his  _ bed. _ Eventually he mustered up enough courage to turn and actually face the younger boy.

He noticed a lot of details about Mingyu that night, realized a lot of things that changed the course of their relationship for him. For one, he hadn’t noticed it before, but Mingyu had long, dark eyelashes that fanned out across the tops of his cheekbones when his eyes were closed. He looked ethereal when he was sleeping, so peaceful, and Wonwoo had had the immediate impulse to protect him.

His finger had still been clutched in Nari’s grasp, and that was the next thing that Wonwoo noticed. He’s said it before, and he’ll say it again, but Mingyu is special. No regular person would come into a stranger’s life and willingly adopt them and their infant daughter into their own just out of sheer kindness. Mingyu is a blessing, and not even in disguise, and Wonwoo realized in that moment that he couldn’t ever let the younger boy go.

_ Good going there, _ he thinks.  _ So much for that. _

But really, from that night on, it was just downhill for Wonwoo. In terms of his own feelings towards Mingyu, that is. He felt himself slipping even further every time that Mingyu so much as smiled at him. Every time he looked over and saw Mingyu playing with Nari, or even just simply holding her, his chest swelled with pride and love and appreciation for the younger boy.

And he’s not stupid. Deep down he knows that Mingyu feels, felt, the same exact way. Wonwoo often caught him smiling shyly at him and Nari, or grinning down at his phone, where a picture of Nari was displayed as his lockscreen. Mingyu treated Steve as if he was his own dog, treated Nari like she was his own child, and cared for Wonwoo like no other person ever has before. So Wonwoo knows that Mingyu felt the same things as him. And in that moment, while he holds Nari and stares at the blank TV and ponders over everything that’s happened in the last week, he realizes that something is wrong. Something is off and he’s not just going to sit back and let Mingyu do this, especially not when there’s no logical explanation for it.

“Can you watch Nari?”

Jun perks up, his eyebrows raising. “Are you finally going to take a shower?”

“No.” There’s no time, if Wonwoo waits any longer he’s going to wimp out on  _ whatever _ he’s planning on doing right now. “I’m going somewhere.”

Jun groans, but nods and holds his arms out for Nari. Wonwoo stands up and deposits his daughter in the older’s arms, but not before kissing her forehead and saying goodbye.

“If you need me to come beat him up, just call.”

Wonwoo allows himself to grin, but shakes his head. He won’t be needing that any time soon, especially since he isn’t even going to see Mingyu.

He’s wearing the same sweatpants and sweatshirt he was wearing three days ago, but he doesn’t exactly care. All he does is throw his shoes on (they might actually be Jun’s, he’s not paying attention) and grab his keys and wallet and phone before leaving his apartment. It’s a little bit of shock to him when he eventually makes it outside, since he hasn’t seen the sunlight in a while, but he manages and trudges over to his car.

He’s going to Mingyu’s apartment complex, but he isn’t going to see Mingyu. Right now, he’s not sure he could control his emotions enough to have a civilized conversation. And he isn’t going to see Soonyoung and Chan, either. No, he’s going to visit Seokmin, because if there’s anyone that might know what’s going on, it’s him.

He knows exactly where Seokmin lives, because Mingyu has pointed it out to him many times. It’s just unfortunate that he lives right next door to Mingyu. Wonwoo is thankful for his hood and covered appearance as he bangs on Seokmin’s door, because he thinks he might actually die if Mingyu saw him right now.

Seokmin doesn’t answer the door for a few moments, and Wonwoo panics, wondering if he’s come at an inconvenient time. He hopes not, because he really needs to talk to someone who’s not Jun. But luckily the door opens and Wonwoo is finally met with Seokmin, who looks pretty bad himself, if Wonwoo is being honest.

“Um, hi, Wonwoo.” Seokmin yawns, and then- “Sorry, I was taking a nap.”

“Sorry to wake you.” Wonwoo mutters, but he isn’t all that sorry. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“Sure.” Seokmin shrugs and pulls his door all the way open, stepping out of the way so that Wonwoo can walk in. Wonwoo does, and then he finds himself in the apartment, which looks eerily similar to Mingyu’s. “Vernon and Seungkwan aren’t here, by the way.”

Wonwoo had honestly forgotten that the other two boys lived with Seokmin, but he’s glad that they’re not here. He only really wants to talk to Seokmin, no matter how much he likes the other two.

“Okay.” Wonwoo nods, slowly. “Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you.”

“Sure.” Seokmin says again. He gives Wonwoo a look, indicating that he knows exactly what the conversation is going to be about, and then begins walking over to his couch. He sits down and gestures for Wonwoo to do the same on the loveseat, so he does, and they they sit there for a few moments in silence until Wonwoo speaks up.

“I’m sure you...know what happened.”

“Yeah.” Seokmin mumbles. “He, uh...he’s been here the past couple of days. Just left this morning, actually.”

Something about Mingyu finding comfort in his friends makes Wonwoo feel a little better. Like he isn’t the only one that’s suffering, that he was right about this being more than just Mingyu losing feelings.

“Is he okay?”

Mingyu broke up with him in the shittiest way possible, but he still cares about the younger boy. He wants him to take care of himself, doesn’t want him to hurt.

“Not really.” Seokmin admits. He chuckles, but there’s no humor to it. “Looks about like you, honestly.”

Wonwoo takes no offense to this, even though he probably should. He just sighs and leans back in the chair.

They sit like that for a few minutes, the atmosphere silent and awkward. Wonwoo pays little attention to it, though, and instead continues to replay things in his mind. But he’s done asking questions, done pondering over what could and should have been. He just wants to  _ know. _

“Wonwoo, I don’t-”

“Why?” Wonwoo looks up and stares straight at Seokmin, his eyes pleading. “He won’t answer any of my texts or calls. I just...I want to know why.”

Seokmin sighs. He uncrosses his legs and rests his his elbows on his knees, running his hands down his face. He looks just as tired as Wonwoo feels, honestly, and Wonwoo wonders what exactly Mingyu’s said to him.

“He didn’t say anything?”

“Just that he didn’t think we were working right now, and that it wasn’t me, it was him.”

“Yeah, I know, he showed me the texts.” Seokmin says. “But he didn’t say anything before that? Anything at all?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. Mingyu never even alluded to anything. All he did was slowly pull away in a way that Wonwoo couldn’t interpret.

“He’s such a fucking idiot.” Seokmin grumbles out, and Wonwoo is pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it but he does anyways. He then watches as Seokmin pulls his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. The younger boy unlocks it and scrolls for a few moments, before he hands the phone over to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo takes it, but doesn’t look down at it yet.

“That’s what he sent me, right after he texted you. Just read until the end.”

Wonwoo peers down at the phone hesitantly, but then begins to scroll through the texts, reading them all carefully.

 

**> [screenshot of text to Wonwoo] i fucked up**

**what? what happened? <**

**> i broke up with him. **

**ya i can see that but why? what happened mingyu <**

**> it was for the best but now i’m not so sure**

**mingyu. what. happened. <**

**> my dad came over. **

**okay and? your parents are cool with you being gay. did they not like him? <**

**> he didn’t wonwoo. **

**> *meet**

**then what the hell does your dad have to do with it? i thought you and wonwoo were happy why the sudden change? <**

**> we were but my dad said some things and i got scared**

**??????? do you want to come over and talk??? <**

**> not right now i want to be alone i just wanted to get someone else's opinion**

**what exactly did your dad say? <**

**> what if we went too fast seokmin? what if right now is okay but in a month wonwoo hates me but he doesn’t want to break things off bc i’m in nari’s life.**

**is that what your dad told you? <**

**> i mean kinda**

**> when i told him he said that he thinks i rushed things and that it’s dangerous bc wonwoo has a kid and i’m not her dad but i’m trying to act like her dad and that could be bad in the future. **

**> i feel like i forced myself onto him bc i was always over there helping with nari. what if it’s just infatuation and he doesn’t even like me? what if he’s just being nice right now bc he doesn’t know how to tell me that i came on too strong and he doesn’t really like me. **

**right so your solution was to just break up with him in literally the worst way ever. did you even talk to him? <**

**> he’s too nice he would just deny it. **

**> seokmin i love him what do i do**

 

That’s the end of the texts. Wonwoo looks up from the phone, his mouth agape, eyes wide. He hands the phone back to Seokmin and then waits for the younger to say something, because right now, he has nothing to say himself. 

“I went over there after that.” Seokmin sighs and pockets his phone. “He said his dad was angry with him, because he feels like Mingyu forced himself into a situation where he didn’t belong. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Kim is like my second father, but sometimes he’s kind of hard on Mingyu without talking to him about things.”

“Mingyu’s dad was married before he met Mingyu’s mom. He had a daughter with his previous wife, so Mingyu technically has an older sister, but they’re not in contact. Mingyu’s dad lost custody of her when she was young and hasn’t really spoken to her since. I assume that he’s just afraid that things will go south between you two somewhere along the line, and Mingyu will lose not just you, but a child he loves. He doesn't want him to go through what he did. Or at least, that’s what Mingyu told me.”

“It makes sense in theory, but he doesn’t know the kind of relationship you and Mingyu have. I think if he did, he wouldn’t have said those things. But Mingyu really looks up to his dad, so he took it to heart and acted without thinking.”

Wonwoo gulps. His mind is racing again, with all kinds of different thoughts and emotions.

Mingyu broke up with him because of  _ that? _ He distanced himself for an entire week and then broke up with Wonwoo over a  _ text _ because of something his dad said?  _ That’s it? _

Wonwoo is suddenly mad. He had been sad since  _ the text, _ never was very mad, but now? He’s  _ pissed. _ Pissed at Mingyu, pissed at the situation, hell even pissed at Mr. Kim for trying to tell Mingyu what to do with their relationship.

He stands up from the loveseat and sets his jaw, before looking down at Seokmin.

“Is he in his apartment?”

“Yes, but-”

Wonwoo doesn’t give Seokmin a chance to finish his sentence. He spins on his heels and trudges towards the front door, before throwing it open and taking the few steps towards Mingyu’s apartment. He doesn’t even shut Seokmin’s door behind him, just immediately lifts his hand and begins banging on the door that’s now in front of him.

“Go away, Seokmin, I’m fine!”

Wonwoo’s heartbeat picks up at hearing Mingyu’s voice, but he doesn’t stop banging.

“Seriously, Seokmin! I’m fine!”

Wonwoo bangs harder. There’s silence on the other side of the door, and then it’s suddenly thrown open, and Wonwoo comes face to face with Mingyu.

“Seok- oh.”

“Yeah,  _ oh.” _ Wonwoo spits out. He supposes in normal situations he’d be nice to Mingyu, would allow the younger to say his bit and then he’d explain himself, but he’s not feeling very nice today. He pushes at Mingyu’s chest so that he stumbles backwards, and then stalks into the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

“What-”

“You  _ broke up with me _ over a fucking  _ text _ because your dad said he was worried that we  _ wouldn’t work out?” _

“I-”

“No, shut up, you don’t get to say anything right now!” Wonwoo yells. “I sat on my couch for  _ two damn days, _ nearly depressed, because I thought I had done something wrong. I’m pretty sure Nari is going to need physical therapy because I held her so much, her legs probably don’t even work anymore!”

“I cried and was mad at myself and thought so much that my brain hurts and come to find out this happened because you were  _ scared?!” _ Wonwoo takes a deep breath. “Did you even think to talk to me about it? To ask me what my opinion was on the matter?”

“Because quite frankly, I don’t care what your dad has to say. Seokmin told me that he doesn’t want you to end up like him and I can understand that but you know what? That’s not going to happen, not with us.”

“And do you know why? Do you know why we’re going to be different? Because I fucking love you, you idiot, and I love the love you have for Nari, and no matter what you or anyone else thinks, I already consider you her other dad. You were there for her from the beginning and without you she’d probably be in foster care right now or something and even if we don’t work out as a couple in the future I still want you in her life because you’re important.”

“I don’t care how long we’ve been together, how long we’ve known each other, if other people think we’re rushing things or not. Nothing anyone else says matters, because I’ll love you no less, okay?”

Wonwoo stares straight ahead at Mingyu, can see the tears welling in the younger’s eyes, but continues anyways.

“I think I knew you were special the minute I saw you acting so natural with Nari. I don’t know what’s going to happen with us in the future, but I don’t want us to end like this. I don’t want  _ us _ to end at all, okay? And I especially don’t want to feel as lonely as I felt these past two days. So please, tell your dad that everything is going to be okay, alright? Because I don’t think I can actually keep living without you by my side. I want to wake up next to you every morning, see you playing with Nari every single night in my living room, and that’s not going to change as long as I’m sane.”

Wonwoo sniffles, he hadn’t realized he started crying halfway through his speech. He wipes at his eyes and then folds in on himself, crossing his arms. Mingyu continues to stare at him, his mouth wide, until he finally closes it and gulps.

“Is this...is this you asking me to move in with you?”

Wonwoo chokes.

“I hate you.”

Mingyu sob-laughs, in the most unattractive way, and then walks forward and wraps Wonwoo up into his arms. He places his chin on Wonwoo’s head and squeezes him tight, sniffling every few seconds.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I was really mad at you. I can’t believe you broke up with me like that just because you were scared. I really thought I did something wrong.”

“You didn’t. You’re perfect, I just got in my head.” Mingyu sighs. “I need to work on that. But I’m sorry, I really am.”

“We can work on it together.” Wonwoo mumbles. He lifts his head and peers up at the taller boy, smiling shyly. “I meant every word I said. I kind of want you forever and always.”

Mingyu nods, smiling himself, but he looks hesitant. “Do you really think we’re not moving too fast?”

“Do you?”

Mingyu shrugs. Wonwoo rolls his eyes.

“I think we’re going at our own pace. It’s working for me.”

“Me too.” Mingyu finally admits, and instead of looking hesitant, he looks sure of himself. “And..and...I love you too. I think I knew that first night I stayed with you. You fell asleep holding onto Nari and I realized that I never wanted to let that go.”

Wonwoo ducks his head, shyly, and grins. He rests his forehead on Mingyu’s shoulder and takes a deep breath.

“And if you wanted to move in, that would be cool too.”

“What?”

Wonwoo sighs, and repeats himself, this time a little louder. He looks back up and finds Mingyu grinning down at him, his canines showing, looking a little bit proud but also a little bit amused.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo nods. It wasn’t his intention to ask Mingyu when he stomped over here from Seokmin’s, but he can’t think of anything he wants more than that.

“I would love too.” Mingyu whispers in response. Wonwoo sighs in relief and then pulls back from Mingyu, putting just a little bit of distance in between them.

“You know, we’re a little bit dramatic.” he admits after a beat of silence, and Mingyu lifts an eyebrow at him, smirking. “But I suppose that’s just us.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Mingyu chuckles. “But really, would you rather have it any other way?”

“Um, yes?” Wonwoo scoffs. “I would have rather not freaked myself out over literally  _ nothing _ for the past two days, thank you very much.”

“It wasn’t nothing.” Mingyu mutters, though he’s not actually annoyed, is really just teasing. “I really thought that I had forced you into this.”

“Well, you didn’t, and I would tell you if I was overwhelmed or wanted to slow down, okay?” Mingyu nods. “Okay. So next time, just ask me, and we’ll talk about it.”

Mingyu nods again. “I can do that.”

“Great.” Wonwoo smirks. “And-”

But he doesn’t get a chance to finish, because Mingyu ducks down and kisses him right then and there. Wonwoo immediately leans up into him, deepening the kiss, because  _ god, _ he’s missed this.

He voices this to Mingyu when the younger pulls away, and Mingyu chuckles, nodding along.

“So have I.”

“It’s been, like, two weeks.”

“All my fault.”

“All your fault.” Wonwoo hms. He leans back up and kisses Mingyu again, reveling in the feeling of his lips on Mingyu’s once again. He’s  _ definitely _ missed this, but not more than he’s just missed Mingyu.

He pulls back and finds Mingyu already grinning down at him.

“I don’t mean to cut things short, but can we go home? I miss my princess.”

And honestly Wonwoo can’t help it when his eyes prick with tears, so he doesn’t say anything back, just nods and tugs on Mingyu’s hand as they head towards the front door. Mingyu slips on his shoes and then they slip outside and lock up, and then head  _ home. _

_ Home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


	13. Chapter 13

“Hey.” 

Wonwoo whips around and comes face to face with Mingyu, who’s grinning down at him from behind the couch. He hands the baby monitor over to Wonwoo and then walks around the couch, before plopping himself down onto Wonwoo’s lap. He kind of crushes his thighs but Wonwoo certainly isn’t going to tell him to move, especially since there really isn’t anywhere else for him to sit.

“Did she go down okay?”

Mingyu nods. Wonwoo looks down at the baby monitor in his hands and watches as Nari sleeps soundly in her crib, worn out from the big day that they had had. From moving Mingyu completely in, to finishing putting her crib together, to going over to Jeonghan and Joshua’s for their ‘announcement’ party, it’s been an exciting day. Wonwoo has no trouble believing that she was easy to rock to sleep.

It still pulls at his heart to see her by herself, though. They’re one door down, their front door is locked and the lights are off, but he still feels uneasy. Mingyu, as well as everyone else, told him that Nari would be fine but honestly he just really wants to head home.

“We can head back in a little bit.” Mingyu whispers in his ear, sensing his discomfort. Wonwoo sighs and tucks the monitor into him, before wrapping his free arm around Mingyu’s waist and pulling him closer.

Jeonghan and Joshua are in the middle of telling everyone about how telling their parents about the engagement went. It’s a funny story, but Wonwoo isn’t really paying too much attention to it, too preoccupied with being worried about his daughter. He doesn’t even realize when everyone starts standing up, having to be snapped out of his trance by Mingyu nudging his side.

“Hmm?”

“We’re getting drinks. Jihoon is heading home, though, since he has to get to work early tomorrow, so if you want to-”

“Yes.” Wonwoo says immediately, standing up from the couch and, in the process, knocking Mingyu off of his lap. Mingyu laughs and catches himself before he falls. Wonwoo doesn’t worry about him all that much as he stalks off to go find Jeonghan and Joshua.

He finds them in the kitchen. They’ve been wrapped around each other all night and right now is no exception, Joshua leaning up against the counter with his arm draped around Jeonghan’s shoulders. They’re talking to Soonyoung but Wonwoo doesn’t really care, wants to get back to Nari and the security of his own apartment  _ right the fuck now, _ so he hip checks Soonyoung and butts himself into their conversation.

“Mingyu and I are going to head out.”

Joshua snorts and Jeonghan rolls his eyes, while Soonyoung just whines next to him before hooking his chin over Wonwoo’s shoulder.

“Yeah, get back to Nari.” Jeonghan tells him, knowing exactly what the reason for their early departure is. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting us.” Wonwoo replies, and then smiles at the couple. “It was fun. Food was good.”

Joshua snorts again but then reaches forward and claps Wonwoo on the back, nodding in thanks. Jeonghan says bye after that and Wonwoo waves at the two of them, before he turns on his heel and heads in the direction of everyone else. Soonyoung trails after him and doesn’t leave his side as Wonwoo says goodbye to his other friends. The older boy only stops when they reach the front door, where Wonwoo has to wait for Mingyu to politely (he’s so nice, sometimes it’s a nuisance) say bye to everyone himself.

“Can I come over tomorrow?”

“I guess?” Wonwoo has a normal day in store for him tomorrow, since Mingyu has to go back to work. He raises an eyebrow at Soonyoung.

“Chan works all day long and I’m going to be bored.”

“Sure, come over.” Wonwoo chuckles. Soonyoung grins and then pulls him into a hug, telling him he’ll see him tomorrow before releasing him and bouncing back over to their friends. Wonwoo watches him go with a grin on his face, and only turns away once Mingyu sidles up next to him.

“Finally done?”

“Didn’t want to be  _ rude _ like someone else I know.” Mingyu jokes back, tucking his arm around Wonwoo as he pulls the front door shut behind them.

“I just want to go home.” Wonwoo admits. He leans into Mingyu as they walk the entire five feet back to their own apartment. Mingyu unlocks the door for them, and then Wonwoo rushes inside, heading straight for Nari’s bedroom.

It’s not done yet, but the paint fumes are completely gone and the crib is up, so that’s where she’s sleeping. Wonwoo knows that she’s fine because he can see her on the monitor that’s still clutched in his hand, but that doesn’t stop him from checking up on her. He cracks her door open and walks into her room, stalking up to her crib and staring down at her.

He and Mingyu had agreed that since they were going to be sharing a bed now, Nari needed to be sleeping in her own. And it would be easier on both Nari and Wonwoo if they broke her of the habit of sleeping with Wonwoo now, so she’s in her own room as well. Wonwoo knows it’s for the best but he still hates it, and that’s why he spends an entire five minutes watching his baby girl sleep.

When he turns back around to leave he finds Mingyu leaning against the door frame of the room, grinning at him. Wonwoo rolls his eyes but trudges forward anyways, bypassing the younger boy and leaving him to close Nari’s door.

“She’ll be okay.” Mingyu tells him as they head back to their own room. “She’s one room away.”

Wonwoo only shrugs. He cried over it the first time they talked about it, and he doesn’t want to cry again.

“Are you taking a shower?” Wonwoo asks Mingyu when he walks into the room, and Mingyu just simply shakes his head, shutting the door behind him.

“I’ll take one in the morning.”

“‘Kay.” Wonwoo mumbles. He sets the baby monitor down onto his bedside table and then goes to the dresser, where he pulls a pair of sweatpants out of the bottom draw. He makes quick work of tugging his tee shirt and jeans off, and then pulls the sweatpants on, leaving them untied as he jumps onto the bed.

Mingyu gets himself ready for bed as well, opting for a pair of shorts instead of sweatpants. He throws his dirty clothes into the bin next to the dresser and hits the lights before climbing onto his side of the bed.

He’s stayed over a few times now, but tonight is the first night he’ll actually be sleeping here as a resident. Wonwoo is exhausted but can’t help the giddy feeling that spreads throughout his body when Mingyu turns on his side to face him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Wonwoo snorts. He shuffles forward and Mingyu throws an arm over his waist, pulling him closer to his chest.

“This is kind of weird.”

“Bad weird?” Wonwoo asks. He lifts an eyebrow and it’s dark in the room, but he can still see Mingyu roll his eyes.

“Good weird.” he mumbles. “I think I’m going to like this. Even though you made me sell my couch.”

“I have a perfectly good couch.”

“We could have had two perfectly good couches.”

“Yours smelled like cheese.”

“Lies.” Mingyu chuckles, and then presses a kiss to Wonwoo’s forehead, catching him completely off guard. Wonwoo makes a noise and buries his head in Mingyu’s chest.

“Stop.”

“Why?” Mingyu asks, and kisses his forehead again, before trailing a string of kisses down his face. First his temple, then his cheek, his nose, and eventually his lips. He pulls back and smiles down Wonwoo. “I love you.”

Wonwoo buries his head in Mingyu’s chest again and screams, quietly, so that he doesn’t wake Nari up. He’s so gone for this boy and it’s making him  _ soft. _

He doesn’t lift his head for a few moments, but once he does, he’s met with Mingyu, who’s still grinning down at him.

“I love you too.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Mingyu jokes. He pulls Wonwoo even closer and nuzzles into his hair, and Wonwoo wraps his arms around his torso, that way there’s not even a centimeter of space in between them.

“Tomorrow when you get home from work can we work on Nari’s room? I want to get it done soon.” Wonwoo asks. He waits a few seconds but when Mingyu doesn’t reply he pulls back to look at his boyfriend, wondering why he’s not saying anything. He finds the younger biting back a smiling, looking shy as he peers down at Wonwoo.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Mingyu is quick to say, shaking his head. “Just...usually when you’d say stuff like that I knew I’d have to go back home afterwards, but now…”

Mingyu trails off and lets his gaze fall to the pillow next to him, shrugging. Wonwoo smiles because Mingyu is so  _ cute, _ he can’t hardly handle it. He shimmies his arms up so that they’re draped over Mingyu’s neck and then rolls over. Mingyu ends up on his back while Wonwoo rests on his chest, hunched over him slightly.

“I’m happy.”

“Yeah?” Mingyu raises an eyebrow; Wonwoo nods.

“Very. I’m glad you’re here. It’s going to be so much better.”

“I think so too.” Mingyu mumbles. Wonwoo smiles and then ducks down to kiss him, no real heat to it, just presses his lips to the younger’s. Mingyu leans up into him and they stay like that for a few seconds before Mingyu pulls back.

“Can’t believe you almost gave this up for no reason.”

Mingyu sighs, dramatically, and rolls his eyes. Wonwoo has been completely  _ milking it _ the past couple of days, using the instance as an excuse for Mingyu to do whatever Wonwoo wants, and it’s hilarious because Mingyu can never say anything about it. He just complies and Wonwoo loves it because he gets his way.

“When are you going to stop making me feel bad about that?”

“Never.” Wonwoo whispers and dips back down to kiss Mingyu again, this time a little more fervent. Mingyu bites at his bottom lip and Wonwoo opens his mouth, slightly, as he throws his leg over Mingyu’s waist so that he can straddle him.

They’re halfway to grinding on each other when the baby monitor on Wonwoo’s bedside table makes a noise. Wonwoo pulls back almost immediately and peers over at the device, finding Nari sitting up in her bed, her face sad as she stares at nothing. Not even five seconds later she starts crying, throwing her head back as sobs rack her body. She clutches her Stitch plushie close to her chest and it breaks Wonwoo’s heart.

He climbs off of Mingyu and is about to get up to go get her when a hand on his chest stops him.

“I got her.” Mingyu mumbles, smiling at him, and Wonwoo bites his lip. “We can do that now. Share the duty.”

Wonwoo doesn’t say anything back while he watches Mingyu pad out of the room. He thinks that maybe it’s a good idea that he’s the one getting Nari, because if Wonwoo does, he’ll probably just bring her back into the room with him. Mingyu will at least try to get her to go back to sleep in her own room, by bouncing and rocking her the way she likes.

Wonwoo is proven wrong, however, when only a minute or so later, Mingyu walks back into the room with Nari cradled to his chest. He meets Wonwoo’s eyes and folds in on himself even more as he climbs back into the bed, careful of the baby in his arms.

“I was going to try to rock her back to sleep but she looked so sad…” he mumbles. Wonwoo snorts but he isn’t complaining; he’s not exactly ready to part from Nari himself either.

He watches as Mingyu lays Nari down in between them, before he shuffles and curls himself protectively around her. Wonwoo smiles and does the same, finding the position familiar and comforting.

“We can try again tomorrow.” Mingyu mumbles.

“Sure.” Wonwoo nods. He pulls the comforter over the three of them and then rests his hand on Nari’s stomach, something he’s found that comforts the baby. Mingyu lays his head down on his pillow and then allows Nari to take his finger into her small fist.

Wonwoo turns his head and meets Mingyu’s eyes. He grins at him, and Mingyu grins back, before he reaches down and presses a kiss to Nari’s forehead.

“Goodnight, princess.”

Wonwoo’s smile widens as he does the same, swiping his free hand across her forehead so that he can move her hair out of her eyes. She’s already asleep by the time he makes himself comfortable again.

“Goodnight, Wonwoo.”

“Goodnight, Mingyu.” Wonwoo laughs, quietly. “I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you too.” Mingyu whispers back. He turns onto his side and throws his arm over both Wonwoo and Nari.

Wonwoo smiles at him one more time and then closes his eyes. He finds sleep easily that night, reveling in the warmth Mingyu’s body emits, and the comfort he feels having Nari close to him again.

They don’t try to put Nari in her own bed the next night, or even the one after that. Wonwoo doesn’t really care, though. He wouldn’t mind sleeping next to Mingyu for the rest of his life, and he’ll take sleeping next to Nari for as long as she lets him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡[twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lsmyg)  
> ♡[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/dokyomes)


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